Ave Umbra SSHG
by Severus Sortiarius
Summary: The Marriage Law Repulsion act has liberated countless witches and wizards from unsavory unions. In the case of Hermione Granger,that had been all the more true of her subsequent marriage to Potions Professor Severus Snape. As far as anyone else could tell it seems the pair could hardly wait to be rid of each other, but when they both agree to divorce, will they come to regret it?
1. Prologue:Liberation's Folly

_**Ave Umbra SSHG**_

 **A SS/HG fanfic by Severus Sortiarius**

 **A/N:I OWN NOTHING, This is for my amusement and others if you feel so incline to venture with me...The Characters and all rights Belong to J.K. Rowling, but I like to venture into her playground...particularly when it comes to a certian Potions Master...No Money is being made off this...and I'm quite alright with that...Stress relief and letting my imagination run wild is all I care about here...and of course Reviews...I'll try and watch my spelling but it does tend to go awry in the heat of the moment when typing so bare with me...RATED M and it's not changing...I won't be as discriptive as some other writers out of respect to the characters, but I will make them HUMAN.**

 **WARNING: Contains Mature Content...M FOR MATURE, Strong Language, Sexual Content, Alcohol, Drug Reference, Mentions of Child Abuse, Ect.**

 **{** _ **The issuing of The Marriage Law Replushion act has liberated countless witches and wizards from unsavory unions...in the case of Hermione Granger, that had been all the more true of her subsequent marriage to former Potions Professor Severus Snape...As far as anyone else could tell it seems the pair could hardly wait to be rid of each other, but when the papers are signed and the union disolved...will either of them come to regret it?}**_

 _ **{"I'm through thinking of things to say to you...It's true, I've said enough and so have you...Just drive, you slam the door and so do I...Tongue tied from all the little things...And they're the reason that I scream...I needed you...Probably as bad as I need another hole in the head...'Cause I needed you...Car keys in your hand...I believe that you would leave me for dead..."}Another Hole In The Head, Nickelback**_

 **Prologue** **:** _ **Liberation's Folly**_

 _The Ministry Of Magical Offices, Wizarding World..._

 **H** ermione Granger-Snape's amber eyes stared down at the magical parchments with a mixture of much appreciated relief and disbelief. In just a matter of moments she would be getting her life back. Not to say as she had not been grateful for the Potions Master being her husband. His untimely proposal at the behest of Headmaster Albus Dumbledore had been all that kept the muggle-born witch out of unsavory death eater clutches during the second wizarding war. Over the course of their surprisingly short marriage, Hermione had discovered a good deal about her former Potions Professor, like his blantant preference for drink at all hours of the day no matter the occasion. She summized that it attributed to his brittle nature for the most part.

She had also known the exact specifications he had when demanding his breakfast. It had been strange at first having to get use to being around the greasy git in an intimate setting as well. He had been surprisingly patient with her new found understanding between them but that did little to stop the eruptions of temper and his often trade mark nasty remarks concerning her and her sorted house of Hogwarts.

Of course all that had been in the beginning of their short union.

Severus Snape had appeared to mellow following the battle of Hogwarts, having narrowly escaped death via a venomous serpent would do that to one the witch supposed.

For his part, Severus Snape had been standing in his usual ebony clad attire with his obsidian gaze fixed on the parchments as well. The administrator produced a magical pen in which both parties were to use to add their respective signatures to the paperwork. Hermione noticed that Snape had been silent the entire time the administrator spoke about the impending divorce.

His expression had been blank as it ever was, a frustrating aspect about the wizard if ever there was one. During their entire six years of marriage, Hermione had never known if Severus had truly felt anything for her aside from the occasional indication that their forced coupling via the Ministry of Magic had been tolerable.

Hermione's amber eyes went from the parchments before her back to her husband and then to her friends whom had come along to show their support. Ginny Weasley, now Ginny Potter had smiled at her in a bid to give her encouragement. Harry's emerald green eyes had been on Snape. Ever since he had found out the dour wizard had formerly been in love with his mother, he made it a point to try and get to know the man. Of course Snape didn't make it easy, perfering to keep his distance from anyone and everyone all at once.

The Potions Master had retired quietly from teaching following a breif stint in Azkaban due to a impleminted Death Eater Reformation Act. Hermione had fought tooth and nail to get him released and with the combined efforts of Harry Potter and Professor Minerva McGonagall, they proved he had infact been reformed all along and working to bring about Voldemort's end behind enemy lines.

Once the truth was known Snape became a sort of unsung hero of the wizarding world despite his preferance to remain as far away from public noteriety for his work. Hermione had accepted _The Medal of Merlin_ in his honor given that she had recieved her own medal for her efforts in the war and had been recognized by the wizarding world as the snarky former Professor's legal wife.

"Alright Professor Snape if you would...please sign here...here and here...and you'll be a free wizard once again." said the administrator.

With a disgruntled sigh at having been addressed in general, Snape took hold of the magical pen and quickly added his familiar spidery scrawl to the parchments on the table. Once he had finished, the administrator turned his attention to Hermione. The witch looked at the parchments and then at the pen. To tell the truth her reluctance to sign had been something of a shock to her. She had invisioned so many nights all the ways she would celebrate if this Merlin awful law were ever repelled. She had wished to get back to being in charge of her own destiny again and the possiblity of marrying for love as opposed to magical priority had been an all too intriging prospect.

"Mrs. Snape?" said the administrator trying to get her attention. "Are you ready to sign?"

Hermione looked over at Snape. His expression had once again made it hard to judge the kind of emotion he had been feeling given the end of their marriage was but a signature away.

"Times awasting Miss Granger." said Snape with his arms folded across his ebony clad chest. "Some of us have more important things to do besides sit here and suffer the indignaty of Potter's presence."

Harry narrowed his eyes at the former Potions Professor. It seemed the years had done little to wave Snape's annoyance where he was concerned. Hermione took a breath as she looked back down at the parchments.

"Only one more signature until we both win our respective freedom from this insufferable law." muttered Snape bitterly.

Finding no sign that he of intended protest, nor a fraction of regret in the dour wizard's sallow pale face, The comptemplating witch hastily added her signature to the parchments noting for the first time that this was to be the last time she used the title of Mrs. Hermione Jean Granger-Snape.

"Well Mr. and Mrs. Snape." said the administrator with a soft smile. "I now pronounce you divorced."

There was a minor sensation of overwhelming shock as their respective wedding bands broke into pieces and crumbled before their very eyes. The magic binding them had been lifted and they stood more divided than all the years of being Professor and student had illustrated in the past. Without a word or so much as a backwards glance Severus Snape left the lobby of the Minisry of Magic building.

The trademark billowing of his black robes had been the last image of the man Hermione Granger had been married to for the past six years. For a moment she felt the urge to run after him. One could hardly blame her given how many times she had done that very thing concerning the various rows they had over the course of their union.

It became apparent that her amber eyes had been fixed on the last place she had seen Snape when she finally noticed that Harry had been attempting to get her attention.

"Mione?" he had said softly. "A-Are you alright?"

The formerly married witch turned toward her friend and offered him a small smile in a bid to thank him of his concern.

"Y-Yes." she replied a little too uneasily for Harry's taste. "I'm just...it's all been so strange...I simply need a moment."

The green eyed wizard nodded as his eyes wondered into the direction where Snape had disappeared. He had been worried about how this would all affect the already tempermental wizard. Knowing his severe attachment to his mother and given his recent marriage to Hermione, Snape must have been an emotional wreck inwardly. With a sigh, Harry pushed his concerns away for the time being. He would have to wait to see how this all played out before he had been truly overcome with concern for the often self destrictive wizard.

It had been well documented that if he were to approach the wizard this soon there was a chance Snape might react rather bitterly toward him and disappear off the grid entirely. Given that Snape had been released from Azkaban due to his and Hermione's combined efforts, the green eyed wizard felt responsible for the often unreasonable git.

"Let's get you home." he said turning his attention back to Hermione.

The witch felt a small ping of unwavering saddness _. Home_ had been Spinner's End in Cokeworth, England since the second wizarding war's end. Home, had been a small sitting room with books abound in their respective sheleves smelling of old leather and crisp old pages. _Home_ , had been the place where the familiar baritone drawl of a most insufferable wizard resounded as he wondered the darkened halls muttering to himself about various potions ideas. Most importantly, _Home_ had been the place she had shared with her husband for the past six years


	2. Chapter 1:The Pitfalls Of Divorce

**Chapter 1:** _ **The Pitfalls Of Divorce**_

 _ **{A/N: Wanted to try my hand at repelling the marriage act so to speak...let's see where this goes...}**_

 _ **My thanks to all my readers and reviewers...Enjoy-S.S.**_

 _ **Three Months Later...**_

 _The Potter Residence, The Burrows, Wizarding World..._

 **T** ake things one day at a time. Or at least that's what Hermione Granger told herself when she woke up in the morning. It had been strange waking up for the past three months and feeling nothing but emptiness on the left side of the bed. She had grown accustomed to having to share a bed albeit a small one with a certain snarky git. It had been rather difficult at first, being in such close proximity to the man she spent the better half of six previous years in Hogwarts trying to win his approval on any minor thing. He had been the most difficult of Professors to please as it were. Not much had changed in terms of their short lived union. Severus Snape had naturally been the most difficult person she had ever met in all her years of life. She attributed it to his rather unpleasant upbringing, and considering the condition Spinner's End had been in when she first arrived, it had mostly been barely live-able the entire time he had been a boy.

Part of the more difficult aspects of dealing with the Professor had been his abrasive tongue and coldness. As much as it hurt to be near him at school for the duration of Potions Classes and Defense Against The Dark Arts prior to the final year, he had been much worse in the confines of a private quarters. She deduced that he resented having to marry her given her age and that the order had come from Dumbledore himself in a bid to save her from the clutches of Death eaters like Rabastan LeStrange whom had been single for much of his life and intent on causing as much harm to muggle-born witches as he could get away with.

A shudder went through the witch as she thought back to how close she had been to being forced to marry the unsavory monster. Her dealings with Bellatrix LeStrange had taught her that she wanted nothing...absolutely nothing to do with the sadistic clan that had tormented poor Neville Longbottom's parents to the point of madness before the close of the first wizarding war.

Hermione sighed as her amber eyes once again drifted to her empty ring finger. It seemed it had been quite naked without the magical wedding band she had worn for the past six years. Unable to take much more of her increasingly morbid thoughts, the bushy haired witch got to her feet and attempted to greet the dawn with a new lease on life. A lease that her former husband had given her by all accounts.

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 _The Kitchen, The Potter Residence, Wizarding World..._

Harry James Potter had been enjoying his morning coffee as his wife prepared breakfast for him, herself and their current house guest Hermione Granger. It had been three months since her divorce from Snape and she had been still in the process of adjusting to life alone. He couldn't imagine what his best friend had been going through given that her only other romantic attachments had been to convicted death eater, Viktor Krum, currently serving time in Azkaban and Ronald Weasley, Harry's own brother-in law. Ron had been happily married to Lavender Brown and quite focused on starting a family as it were. He had resented Hermione a good deal that final year before the war when her marriage to Professor Severus Snape had been revealed to him by the agonized witch in confidence.

The green eyed wizard sighed as he went down the list of obituaries in the morning edition of The Daily Prophet. He had been relieved that there had been no reports of Severus Snape having turned up dead in the last three months but it had been little comfort given the condition he found the man in when last he saw him.

Hermione had all but settled into her room at his home when the green eyed wizard appeared on the door step of his former Professor in a bid to collect the remainder of his friends things. Snape had an impassive expression on his face but the fury had been evident behind his obsidian gaze as he glared at Harry from behind the door. He clearly had not expected visitors much less wanted any. Hermione's things had been scattered about the house untouched by Snape and largely back were they had appeared to have gone from the moment she placed them. Harry conjured a box and set to work collecting them not missing the unnerving sensation of Snape burning a hole in his back as he moved about the house.

The Potions Master had been quite during the ordeal, a trait that had been truly uncharacteristic of him given the nature of the visit as well as the green eyed wizard's presence. He made his way back to his arm chair that had been placed in front of the fireplace as if it had been a television set. The red-orange flames danced about a lengthy log that had been charred black in the wake of it's use. It seemed strange to Harry that the fire burning did little to end the evident chill in the old house.

As Harry set about finishing his task, Snape remained in the chair his eyes glued to an old worn book bound in leather. The green eyed wizard attempted to make light conversation and had been met with yet another cold wall of resistance as Snape blatantly ignored him. Harry sighed figuring this divorce had not been any easier on Snape then it had been on Hermione despite his attempts to act otherwise.

Given the amount of history between the green eyed wizard and his former Professor, Harry had been privy to many things about the dour wizard that many other's save for Hermione had known about him. The wizard's capacity to revel in his own anguish had been one of them. Finishing his task at last, Harry wished Snape the best despite the cold reception and venture back toward his own home.

The green eyed wizard had not seen Snape since and it had been roughly three months since that encounter.

"You're worried about him aren't you?" asked Ginny as she set his breakfast in front of her husband.

Harry gave her a sheepish smile not sure he wanted to know just how she was able to read him so well.

"It's been three months." he said taking a bit of toast into account as he dropped the newspaper. "I-I can't help it...especially given that I know how he gets when his heart's been broken."

"What makes you so sure it's been broken?" asked Ginny with an inquisitive expression. "This is Snape were talking about...he seemed all too happy to be rid of Hermione at the Ministry of Magic Offices."

"Gin, trust me on this...dare I say I know Snape better than he knows himself by now with the exception of Hermione of course." said Harry taking a bite out of his toast.

"What do you know with the exception of me?" asked Hermione Granger as she made her way toward the breakfast table.

Harry stuffed his toast in his mouth and mumbled a few words to Ginny. The red head witch had been shaking her head as she turned her attention back to the stove and the eggs she had frying in the pan.

Hermione shook her head not at all understanding her best friend's antics. Ginny sat her plate before her. It had been lightly filled in comparison to Harry's. She had toast, with a side of scrambled eggs and one or two pieces of well cooked sausage.

Ginny's plate had been the same as Harry's piled high and hearty. Normally the witch didn't share her brother Ron's enthusiasm for food nor the gluttonous aspect of it but it was to be expected with her being three months along in her pregnancy.

Harry had been proud at the prospect of becoming a father and looked forward to the changes. Ginny had been looking forward to becoming a mother as well and it seemed she embraced it fully with all the knitting and cooking being done. Hermione often joked that if she didn't watch out she'd definitely become a junior Molly Weasley. To further punctuate this reality, Ginny in good humor placed her hands on her hips and started scolding make-believe children in an experiment with baby names.

It had sent Hermione into a fit of giggles that had been much appreciated given she had laughed less in the days following her divorce. Unbeknownst to Harry and Ginny, she had spent the majority of her time either studying or crying late into the night courtesy of a well placed silencing charm.

Sadly, motherhood had not been in the cards for the amber eyed witch. Her inability to carry a child to term coupled with her husband's difficulty in impregnating her had been the reason she and Snape never welcomed a little bundle of joy into the world after six years of marriage. It had been just as well, she supposed, it would have been impossible to petition for divorce if she had, had a child with Severus any way.

Despite the difficulties, the witch often suspected that Severus had not wished to sire children in the first place. His temperament with them at Hogwarts had been one thing but his lifestyle in the wake of the war had been more than a little disconcerting. He never really said much about his feelings on the subject one way or the other. She just assumed he planned to continue on as they were with as little friction between them as possible.

The amber eyed witch smiled at her friends as they all sat about eating their fill of Ginny's delicious breakfast. Being a godmother was just as good as being a mother and had it's own share of benefits she supposed.

"Any plans for the day ladies?" asked Harry making polite conversation.

"I plan to do a good deal of knitting." replied Ginny. "It won't be long before this little one's in need of a warm sweater and socks."

The green eyed wizard chuckled some at this.

"Ginny you've knitted four sweaters this past weekend." he said.

"Well...one can never have too many sweaters." she countered.

Hermione smiled once more at the apparent affection between her two friends. She never would have imagined anyone making Harry James Potter as happy as Ginny made him these past few years. It seemed marriage and love really gave Harry's life a new purpose. Unlike many of the students of Hogwarts, he had already tasted Greatness in the form of surviving Voldemort. All he had wanted in the end despite being revered in the wizarding world as it's greatest Hero in the wake of the despot's defeat was a nice quiet life with the witch of his dreams.

Impending fatherhood had been the best thing that could have happened to him since his subsequent marriage it seemed.

"What about you Mione?" asked Harry turning his attention to his friend. "What are your plans for the day?"

"Well." said Hermione in a sort of quiet tone. "I was thinking of doing some shopping and there was a new position I wanted to inquire about at the Ministry of Magical offices."

"Really?" said the green eyed wizard seemingly impressed. "What's it called?"

Hermione arched an eyebrow at him.

"You mean you really haven't heard about it?" she asked.

Harry shook his head. He had been so busy with his own work load and worrying about her and Ginny that he hardly had time to entertain the whispers in the office.

"You know for an Auror you are really uninformed." said Hermione with a reproachful look upon her face.

"Sorry." said Harry. "I guess I've gotten a bit complacent in peace time."

"I'll say." replied Hermione allowing him this small reprieve. "Anyway it's a simple magical analyst position...not a good deal of work as far as complexity is concerned but it'll be enough to keep me busy and help pay the rent."

"Rent?" asked the green eyed wizard with his own eyebrows arched in an inquisitive fashion.

"There's this nice flat in London I've been looking into." explained Hermione. "I figure it was time for a few personal changes given that you and Ginny are starting a family."

The green eyed wizard barely masked his disappointment with his friend's decision to move.

"Oh." he said in a low tone. "Well...I wish you good luck."

Hermione gave him a half smile knowing all too well what he had been thinking. Ginny on the other hand offered her friend her full support despite Harry's sulking.

"Well I for one think it's a good thing." she said pleased for her friend. "Some personal space could do you some good without a certain wizard constantly prodding at you."

Hermione giggled at Harry's narrowing of his eyes in his wife's direction.

"I'm not that bad." he insisted.

"And I thought mother got on like an old mother hen." said Ginny shaking her head as she looked over her husband.

It had been true that Harry's concern and protectiveness was bordering on the side of overbearing as of late.

"Well...I hope you two ladies enjoy your respective days." he said getting up from the table. "This "old mother hen" is late for work."

Both Ginny and Hermione had burst into laughter.

Harry smirked pleased he could provide some form of merriment for his friend.

"Well, I love you too Harry Potter." said Ginny as she walked over and kissed the sulking sod on the lips before his departure.

"And I love you as well." he replied albeit bitterly. "And Hermione...feel free to drop by any time...and I support you no matter what you decide."

"I know Harry." replied Hermione treating him to another smile, a record of four since the day began. "Have a good day at work...love you lots."

Harry took his leave of the two witches and stepped through the emerald green flames of the family floo to the Ministry of Magical offices. He had hoped Hermione knew what she was doing. In his opinion, her leaving had been far too soon. She had not even gotten use to sleeping alone, let alone occupying a home all by herself.


	3. Chapter 2:Misery Is Company

**Chapter 2:** _ **Misery Is Company**_

 _ **{A/N: Here's Another update...}**_

 _ **My Thanks To All My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S.**_

 _ **{"There's clothes all over the floor...Don't remember them being here before...Smell of perfume is in here, why's lipstick on the mirror...And still I don't understand...No pictures left in the hall...There's three new holes in my wall...Where the hell's my credit cards, why's my wallet in the yard...**_ _ **And still I don't understand...Well, now I guess I should've listened...When you said you'd had enough...A little trick I picked up from my father, in one ear and out the other...Why's love gotta be so tough..."} Should Have Listened , Nickelback**_

 _Spinner's End, Cokeworth England, Muggle World..._

 **N** o sunlight could get through the thick average black drapes that covered every window of Severus Snape's childhood home and place of residence ever since he was dismissed from Hogwarts as a result of the new laws passed by the current regime at the Ministry of Magical Offices, of course Minerva had allowed him to "resign" in a bid to save face given all he suffered in the wake of the second wizarding war. Empty bottles of firewhiskey purchased with the money he saved up for years since his first day of employment. If he had not been so frugal he might not have a cent to his name with his legal patents being on hold not withstanding. The familiar feeling of nausea settled in as The former Potions Professor sat in the old leather armchair, his deceased drunken brute of a father use to make himself at home in during his turbulent youth. His obsidian eyes flicked up toward the bare mantle above the fireplace which had been dark and covered in the blackest soot.

Dust had outlined where pictures once stood proudly on display despite the history of this dilapidated brick house. Pictures that once been held by silver frames depicting a beautiful young witch with bushy brown hair and warm amber eyes. Snape reached down onto the dust covered wood floor and pulled another full bottle of firewhiskey from it.

He popped the top and drank it down right from the source.

The liquid had been as advertised given it's fire base name, as it went down burning the back of his parched throat. He closed his eyes as the image of the beautiful witch came flooding his mind. The silver wedding band that had once been on his finger had been missing but it never deterred him from searching for it. For a brief amount of time he had had a wife, a feat made possible only because of Minister Fudge's hair-brained Marriage Law scheme. Albus Dumbledore, his former employer had insisted he marry the young witch Hermione Jean Granger, also his former student in a bid to keep her from death eater clutches. After weeks of protest he finally relented when the old sod enlightened him that a LeStrange had petitioned to marry the girl.

The Potions Master had been very familiar with the LeStrange Brothers, Rudolphus in particular given he had married the deranged witch Bellatrix Black and often made the younger death eater's life a living hell right along with his bride from hell. Hermione would surely have been killed the moment she stepped foot in Rabastan LeStrange's domain given her Muggle-Born status.

A sigh erupted from the sulking wizard as he recalled his time with the young witch.

Hermione had been a good wife, all things considered.

Much better than a worthless sod like him had ever deserved.

He could still recall the timid innocence that had been reflected in her amber eyes whenever he brought her to bed. With an angry grunt, Snape got to his feet smashing the half empty bottle against a nearby wall. He had not wanted to think about that. He had done far too much in the past three months to keep from thinking about that and still the images of taking the young witch had been at the forefront of his mind.

Stumbling just so, he made his way over toward the door. He knew he had to get out of the house. Spending too much time alone in the last place he had been with her had too much of an effect on him. Sadly, it wasn't like he could go anywhere else. He had been restricted to being at Spinner's End as a condition for his release from Azkaban.

The Potions Master made his way out the door and into the almost abandoned neighborhood were few children played in the rubbish filled cobblestone streets and the stench of the blackened pound and compounded rubbish made it difficult to breath. The rancid air had been the least of Snape's worries of course and he strolled through the streets and alleys as if it had been second nature. He didn't own a muggle vehicle, mostly due to his father losing the only one they had in a poker game. Being a wizard whom could apparate, Snape didn't see the need for one as he grew older.

The wizard made his way down the same path he took more often than not since he had been a boy looking to escape the abusive from his drunken brute father and his long suffering mother's agony. He had found Lily Evans to be a suitable distraction for much of his youth, or at least until he ventured to Hogwarts.

She had not been so unlike Hermione in terms of spirit but the contrasts of the two witches had been quite clear as well. His former wife had an almost tangible innocence that she carried inside her, it often made him smile to himself as he tried to mentally grasp the concept of it. Even when she had been at her most infuriating, Hermione seemed to make him smile more than anyone who has ever attempted such a feat, although she had not seen the result of this directly.

As the chilled rancid air hit Snape's sallow pale face, he seemed to snap out of his various flashbacks of life with his former wife. The last thing he needed was to get to thinking about her again. He had been haunted enough by the memory of one Gryffindor witch, he had not needed to dwell on yet another.

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 _Knockturn Alley, Wizarding World..._

The scent had been considerably more pleasant given the amount of perfume and scent charms applied by skillful witches in a bid to attract customers of all sorts, be it the shops needing business or the local brothels needing patrons. Snape moved about the water slick alley of ruined cobblestone streets and headed into the nearest pub. The bartender had been a positively grotesque looking man possibly a mixture of a Hagraven and an ogre. Snape had seen him quite a bit following the divorce as he began to frequent the establishment given it had been little known and densely populated.

He had learned to love living in the shadows since he spent his youth embracing them. He expected they had been apart of his life at some point or another. From the years he spent hiding in the darkness from Tobias in a bid to avoid the inevitable pain of yet another unprovoked beating from the drunken brute to using them as his greatest weapon against his numerous enemies during the wizarding wars, a life in the shadows had always been his.

The Potions Master ordered a drink, of course it had been firewhiskey.

He downed it and ordered another. The bartender kept them coming as per Snape's instruction when he through a small pouch of Galleons onto the bar to pay for his drinks. Without a word the grotesque man took it and proceeded to do his job. The room had been filled with a slight smoke affect, possibly to mimic the atmosphere of muggle pubs and give a bit of discretion to the patrons.

Snape sat at his usual table, it had been along a far stone wall and in of course a good deal of darkness as far as the pub lighting was concerned. He had been feeling the effects of his drinks just two bottles prior but kept to himself. The peace of his table and the euphoria of his drink had worn off with the unwanted presence of an obviously rich wizard with an air of arrogance that made the late James Potter appear tolerable by comparison.

His hair from what Snape could tell upon a noting his full appearance in the dark, a left over skill since his days as a spy, had been brown and his eyes an unnerving shade of green. He had been by some's account a handsome wizard and his style of dress did more than cement Snape's wild imaginings to the man's wealth and breeding. It put him on high alert, so few witches and wizard's had the funds to blatantly strut about like peacocks following the second wizarding war, Lucius Malfoy included.

The once wealthy _Pureblood_ sod had lost everything in the wake of Voldemort's return and more so given his release and subsequent imprisonment within Azkaban for a second time as part of The Death Eater Reformation Act. Those bureaucratic sods in the Ministry of Magical offices had not even taken into account that they had placed two turncoat death eaters fighting on behalf of Albus Dumbledore's Order Of Phoenix against The Dark Lord in a vipers nest of former allies turned enemy.

Needless to say, the beatings were the very least Snape had to endure while locked away. Being a good sport of course, he had taken the brunt of the blame for Lucius, whom could not have lasted a single night given the level of contempt his former brothers had for him. Draco being admitted into the program was just as bad.

It took a mere week for Snape to have all the other imprisoned death eaters believing he had been the only turn coat and that the releases of Draco Malfoy and Lucius Malfoy had simply been negotiated by him to Dumbledore in a bid to throw everyone off his trail.

It kept his old friends safe while inside but brought considerable agony to himself as a result.

Snape's obsidian gaze had once more been drawn to this "new peacock" as it were. It didn't take major skill to deduce that he had been wealthy due to his connections to the Ministry of Magic, perhaps one of the officials had been his father or another close relation. Either way, The Potions Professor had not liked the look of him.

His suspicions had been confirmed when the arrogant wizard turned his attention to him and approached the table.

"Pardon my intrusion, but has anyone told you that you look just like the former Potions Professor Severus Snape of Hogwarts?" he asked in a strangely pleasant tone.

Snape wanted to comment on how much of an idiot his statement made him seem but held his tongue in that regard.

"No." he replied lifting his bottle and downing a bit more of the firewhiskey he had been nursing since he noticed this strange wizard.

"Well it's positively uncanny." replied the strange arrogant wizard. "As a matter of fact I was just speaking with the barkeeper about that very fact."

Snape continued to sip his drink noting all the while that the place had been suspiciously empty with the exception of a few well placed bodies. None the less, he played his part well feigning ignorance of the obvious plot against him. He had not known who this strange wizard had been but it was clear he had intended to do him a good deal of harm.

"The reason for my saying so...is actually a funny story." said the green eyed wizard in a surprisingly consistent pleasant tone. "My brother had been apart of the same infamous group of wizards this Snape had belonged to except he had been quite a young fellow and a little low on the totem pole if you take my meaning."

Snape sipped his drink once more seemingly unphased.

"Does this story have a point?" he said in an emotionless tone.

"Oh it get's better." replied the arrogant wizard. "I had been recently informed that my brother, then known as Bartherus Delaney... had been recently murdered...as it turns out Snape had been the one to carry out the hit in the name of the dark lord, whom...as it turns out was never really his true master to begin with."

"How tragic." replied Snape finishing off his firewhiskey at last. "But I fail to see the punchline."

His obsidian eyes met those furious green orbs that belonged to the arrogant wizard.

"Make no mistake Snape." said the wizard showing his temper for the first time since their conversation began. "Before this day is through, you will."

The wealthy wizard stepped away just as one of the "patrons", which Snape cleverly deduced to be hired muscle from the moment he looked about the half empty pub came at him. His large meaty fist collided with the already drunken Potions Master's jaw and caused him to jerk back in reaction. The pain had been the least of his worries as another hired thug proceeded to strangle him from behind his chair.

Snape instinctively clawed at the other man's meaty forearm as it cut of his oxygen supply.

The green eyed wizard laughed in satisfaction as Snape gasped for air. With quick thinking the Potions Master gripped the bottle from which he had finished his firewhiskey. He smashed it into the side of the brute's head causing him to stumble backward and release his old. With reflexes as quick as a cat, Snape managed to climb the table and took the other remaining brutes out with a series of hexes. He had been restricted via the Ministry of Magic's new laws from actively killing or seriously harming them or anyone with magic but he had been a child before and knew all too well how to adapt hexes to ensure those that sought to harm him knew the meaning of agony.

It appeared the drink did little to dull Snape's senses as he engaged another brute in hand to hand combat greatly surprising the green eyed wizard. He had assumed Snape had only been versed in the magical means of defense and saw his small group dwindle before his very eyes. Snape finished off the last of the thugs and approached the arrogant wizard before him.

He drew his wand in an attempt to curse the Potions Professor but Snape had been faster and all the better for it as he cast a series of hexes at the arrogant wizard causing him to crumble in mental and physical agony. A small smirk filed across the victorious wizard's sallow pale face. It had been the first ounce of amusement the day of his divorce from Hermione Granger.

He grabbed a bottle of firewhiskey on his way out as the barkeep handed him the pouch of galleons he had given him earlier. The Potions Master simply walked out of the pub with no further intentions to return leaving the pouch to cover some of the damages from the fight on his part. The rest of the evening had gone by in a blur as he found himself fumbling into bed with many a witch in a bid to purge Hermione Granger from his memory. Incidentally, this little mental vacation had been courtesy of the arrogant wizard whom had no idea as of yet that Snape had skillfully lifted his coin purse before he took his leave of the unsavory establishment.


	4. Chapter 3:One Step Forward, And Two Ste

**Chapter 3:** _ **One Step Forward, And Two Steps Back**_

 _ **{A/N: Here's Another Update...late post}**_

 _ **My thanks to all my readers and reviewers...Enjoy-S.S.**_

 _The Ministry Of Magic Offices, Wizarding World..._

 **A** s far as clock's go, the one directly behind Hermione inside the interview office of the Ministry of Magic building had been the most annoying and unnerving thing since her former husband's abrasive attitude. She had been dressed for the part of an office aid, complete with the woman's blazer and lengthy librarian skirt and black dress shoes. She had chosen gray, mostly because of it's reflection of intelligence as well as less than flashy style. It had proven the be a well calculated move on her part of course as the office manager thumbed through the files listing her very complex history and intellectual credentials.

"Well, Mrs. Snape." said the manager, a seemingly smug looking wizard with a certain air of arrogance that took little to no deduction on her part to decipher that he held a high opinion of himself.

"It's Granger." she corrected him. "I've been divorced for close to three months now."

The manager had given her a briefly reproachful look then turned his attention back to the parchments before him. While her professional life had been one series of accomplishments after another. By contrast, her personal life had been marred by rumors and gossip about her being a student with an unsavory relationship with her former Potions Professor, who at the time had been accused of murdering Former Headmaster Albus Dumbledore on orders of the dark lord himself.

Hermione had been spared harsh reproach with the reveal of Snape's heroics during the second wizarding war as well as her own. The backlash her marriage to Snape had caused for her did not stop however. Now it seemed she was once again being judged and this time for opting for divorce in stead of doing what so many _Purebloods_ had down for centuries, stay in a relatively loveless marriage for the sake of appearances.

"Well, Miss Granger." he said the manager not at all withholding the venom in his tone. "There are quite a few candidates for the position of Magical Analyst ahead of you...and all have very impressive backgrounds and immense expertise."

"I understand." said Hermione doing her best to hide the all too familiar disappointment from her tone.

Several of the positions she had been trying to get into had been met with the same result. It seemed the curse of being a Snape had not been extended to those that bore the name. Hers had been reverted back to Granger and it seemed she was less well received than if she had chosen to keep it.

After the conclusion of the interview, Hermione left The Ministry of Magic offices feeling about as low as she had been the day after her divorce and the reality that Snape would no longer be sleeping beside her set in. He had warned her along time ago that there had been no love loss between in and the wizarding world, given how they had treated him following his last heroic stand against the despot Voldemort it was no wonder he even bothered to risk his life for these ungrateful people in the first place.

With a crack of thunder, she disapparated from the most contemptible place known to witches and wizards alike.

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 _Spare Bedroom, The Potter Residence, Wizarding World..._

Hermione Granger returned to her bedroom at Harry and Ginny Potter's house. She could barely contain her fury at the treatment she received at the hands of that arrogant manager in the Ministry of Magic offices. She had worked hard to earn the credits for the job of her choosing there just as Harry had when he was attending Hogwarts. She had left the school with her N.E.W.T. and O.W.L.S second only to her ex-husband in terms of the highest scores in Hogwarts history.

She had proven herself capable of more than just being a bystander during the second wizarding war, although she had only been twelve when she Harry and Ron attempted to take on Voldemort during their first year in the form of Defense Against The Dark Arts Professor Quirinus Quirrell. She had even taken on her own husband, when he had simply been known as the dreaded Potions Professor scaring the numerous students that passed through Hogwarts for life with the image of a dungeon bat capable of sucking the life out of them with mind magic.

When believed Snape had been the one jinxing Harry's broom during first year she set his cloak on fire. Not to mention taking out a less than savory Draco Malfoy with a single punch that floored him instantly when his teasing about Buckbeak just to upset Harry had gone too far.

The enraged witch sat down at her supplied wooden desk feeling very much like a student back at Hogwarts as she went over the mental list of possible candidates that could qualify for the position. She had more than met the criteria and if anything she had been profusely over qualified for the position.

Hermione then set to work writing a letter to a number of officials in the department that were not keen on the current manager's way of conducting business. Once that had been done she sent the owl to the office and took some time to rest before she had to endure the emotional strain of interacting with Harry and Ginny. While she had been grateful for her friends in her time of need, their happiness was like a constant punch in the gut in terms of all the possibilities that ended for her once her marriage ended.

Despite her many attempts to keep him from the forefront of his mind during the day, the memory of Severus Snape began to haunt her in the solitude of her given bedroom.

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 _Spinner's End, Cokeworth England, Muggle World..._

The vomit had come up rather violently as Severus Snape leaned over the formerly clean toilet bowl emptying his stomach of all it's contents. He conceded that he might have over done it in terms of spending the arrogant sod's galleons and treating random stranger's to round after round of drinks. He had been the life of the party and it had all been without the added bonus of Lucius Malfoy's company. The Potions Master's head had been pounding as he backed away from the flushing bowl and leaned against the wall on the far side of the small bathroom.

He had been dreaming of her again.

Her amber eyes alight with a kind of brightness not possible to be measured by any form of light magical or otherwise. To him it had seemed otherworldly if anything as he looked at her. It had been difficult not to show her how with just a glance she could unnerve him, with the right touch she could have melted him, and with the right words he would have died for her a thousand times over. Despite this, he had kept silent about his feelings for the bushy haired girl that had once been the bane of his classroom.

The marriage law had been what forced their union and robbed the young witch of the choice to spend whatever amount of time she deemed necessary on the wizard she thought worthy enough for her love and affection. He had believed her gentleness had been wasted on him given his nature and subsequent past.

Snape scrambled to his feet and leaned over the sink. He turned on the faucet and let the cool water run a bit before he wet his face and allowed the water to soak his lengthy raven locks as he stared at his pitiful reflection in the broken mirror. All the good she had done to ensure this miserable shack that had been nothing but a living host to a terrible time in his life had been a home had been undone in a single night.

Once the divorce papers had been signed, he had comeback to this place and reverted it back to the hollowed out shell of broken dreams that it had always been. He smashed most of the mirrors and a couple of the glass panes in various fits of temper. The homely scent of flowers she had placed here had been removed given they had been like knives digging into his heart with her memory.

He had not slept in his bedroom nor ventured into it since the last night he spent with her. It had not been much of a stretch to imagine that their bedroom still held her scent. He closed his eyes noting that she often smelled of jasmine, especially her unruly brown hair. He had taken a liking to it some time in the beginning of their marriage but made it a point to insult her in a bid to keep her on her toes.

The memory of her slender frame being pressed against him when he took her at various times of the day had still been as strong as it ever was despite his recent attempts to erase her. He had not deserved her love. He had not even wanted to get married in the first place but it was a necessary and highly calculated move on the part of former Headmaster before his untimely demise, to ensure her survival of the marriage act.

He played his part well in terms of doing just enough to have legal claim over the young impressionable witch, one could not have imagined the backlash that came from his union with her being found out by everyone in the wizarding world. The dark lord had been less than pleased and tortured him a good deal until he found out that she had not been just an ordinary Muggle-Born witch but the best friend of Harry Potter.

He still wore the scars of his punishment as plain as day on the front of his pale torso.

Another moment of gathering his thoughts and Snape looked back at the still pitiful reflection in the mirror. He had grown out his beard since last he saw the witch and her meddling friend Potter. His lengthy raven hair had been come to the top of his shoulder blades as he stood staring into his own sorrowful obsidian gaze.

To tell the truth, Snape had no real plans to survive the second wizarding war. He thought that damned snake would be the end of him as he bled out in that insufferable shrieking shack. The last thing he had said to Potter had been that he had his mother's eyes, letting the boy know his greatest secret in a matter of seconds with the prospect of his life ending there. Of course he hadn't counted on his then wife being as well verse in healing potions and charms. She stopped the bleeding and purged the poison from his wound in a matter of seconds. To conserve his strength, she put him under a sleeping charm and he passed out blissfully missing the conclusion of the wizarding world's second war with the despot Voldemort.

Snape composed himself as he ventured back down to the sitting room. He grabbed yet another bottle of firewhiskey as he flopped into his arm chair, shirtless and with his gaze once again fixed on the flames coming from his fireplace. His mind began to wonder freely as it had been accustomed to doing with him out of work and alone in the darkness of this toxic place.

The only good thing in his life had been a cheeky young witch with amber eyes and a temperament that could have easily matched his own in terms of passion and loyalty. He had cut himself off magically in a bid to give her a chance to find her own way, knowing all too well the tide of Politics in the wizarding world never last forever and that The Marriage Law would have been over turned in the future.

Still, it was much more difficult to pretend she had meant nothing to him when he found himself alone in the darkness of this place. The shadows of her pleasant memory forever imprinted into the very foundation of this place as much as the bad memories of a helpless boy hiding from his drunken brute father.


	5. Chapter 4:Life's Unexpected Surprises

**Chapter 4:** _ **Life's Unexpected Surprises**_

 _ **{A/N: Here's Another Update...late post}**_

 _ **My thanks to all my readers and reviewers...Enjoy-S.S.**_

 _ **{"It's not worth it for me, gets harder every time call you... This life you lead, like swimming in a shiny ballroom... Next time you bleed, right about this time tomorrow...Next time you steal, better ask before you borrow... This label "thief", find a better title suited for you... This tidal wave, is coming down upon you... This time I've forgotten... I swear this shit was rotten... This time, I believe it... 'Cause I've seen the shit you're needin'..."} Hangnail, Nickelback**_

 _Knockturn Alley, Wizarding World..._

 **H** arry Potter had been on assignment from the Ministry of Magic to apprehend an escaped criminal seen frequenting Knockturn Alley. The problem with retrieval in his line of work had been his inability to blend in to his surroundings in a bid to smoke out his intended targets. Fame in the wizarding world had been little more than a burden as far as the green eyed wizard had been concerned and then some. He had shouldered the weight of it as a boy attending Hogwarts earning the ire of just about every student that wasn't Gryffindor and then when something happened that had not been according to their selfish standards they had been worse than Slytherin and all the other houses combined with their contempt for him. He had suspected that Dumbledore had taken special steps to make him popular among the Gryffindor students for this very reason, awarding house points for direct rule breaking just because of who he was, and changing certain rules to allow Harry to be the exception. It was no wonder Snape had been so nasty to him when he had been Potions Professor.

He had the unfortunate task of dealing with disappointed students whom were cheated out of their hard earned rewards just so the Headmaster could play favorites. Thinking back to Snape's memories, Harry had saw first hand what Gryffindor favoritism had been like when Snape had been a student. He had been mocked and bullied by the whole house with The Marauders leading the charge so to speak. Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall had done little to nothing to see his side of things sticking with their respective house mates claims that the brooding teenage wizard had been the cause of all the trouble.

With a sigh, the green eyed wizard trailed behind the Potions Master noting with increasing alarm as the man ventured toward a well run brothel. Harry had known about the place since he had been a boy and largely avoided the area. He had no use for used witches of that sort, he had been happily married to the woman of his dreams.

Snape had gotten to the entrance when he was suddenly ambushed by a strange looking fellow with obvious wealth and considerably less patience than a fly had lifespan. He had been accompanied by two big brutes whom grabbed the drunken Potions Master by the arms and began to viciously beat him until blood poured from his mouth and nose.

"You like that Snape!" hissed the wealthy wizard glaring at Snape with his formerly passable face covered in boils. "I haven't even begun to put you in your place."

The second thug had taken to punching Snape in the chest and ribs. The cracking of his bones had echoed in the small section of the alley. Harry sprinted toward the scene with his wand firmly in his hands. The sight of Severus Snape being beaten by a couple of low rent thugs while a strange looking man of wealth seemed to enrage him to no end.

 _"EXPELLIAMUS!"_ shouted Harry casting spells in rapid succession at the offending men before him.

One by one they were thrown into the near by walls of various old buildings. Snape collapsed onto the ground with the first thug no longer holding him up in a bid to cause him harm. He lied on his back in the center of the piss water alley with his vision slightly blurred due to both the intensity of his pain and the ingestion of drink.

Harry Potter's green eyes had been the last thing Snape saw before he lost consciousness.

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 _The Potter Residence, The Burrows, Wizarding World..._

Hermione had been enjoying a well made sandwich in the kitchen when she heard Ginny reacting rather nervously to Harry's patronus. The silvery-white stag ran through the living room giving an urgent message of warning to the pregnant witch that there had been some trouble during his latest assignment and that he was on his way home. Ginny had been incline to think the worst considering her hormones had been all over the place.

"Ginny?" said the amber eyed witch as she noted the tears streaming down her friend's face.

"Something's happened to Harry, I just know it." she said with evident fear in her tone.

"There may be a possibility that something did but he told you he was on his way home." reasoned Hermione.

"But he's never called home before with his patronus." said Ginny beginning to panic.

"Keep calm." said the reasonable witch. "Perhaps it's something minor and he didn't want you to worry."

"If he didn't want me to worry he would have called me from the office like he usually does." countered Ginny.

"Perhaps, he was out on assignment and wanted to check in." said Hermione still trying to do everything besides believe the worst in terms of what was going on with her best friend.

"He said something happened Hermione...but he wouldn't tell me what it was or reply to my patronus." said Ginny getting even more frantic with worry.

She had all kinds of scenarios where Harry had been lying faced down in a gutter somewhere and no one had been around to help him.

"Ginny relax." said the amber eyed witch. "Just breathe...you've got an unborn child to consider...and there is still a good chance that Harry is fine and on his way home as we speak."

Ginny sighed.

There was no use speculating. Seeing the wisdom in her friend's words she resolved to keep an open mind until some proof could be obtained to either confirm or deny her wild imaginings. Hermione encouraged her friend to take a seat on the sofa while she fetched a glass of water from the kitchen to help calm her nerves.

No sooner had Hermione left for the kitchen, emerald green flames emitted from the fireplace and Harry James Potter stepped through the floo with blood splattered across his shirt. Ginny's eyes widened as she got off the sofa and rushed over toward him. Harry sensed his wife's concern and immediately put it at ease.

"Gin, it isn't my blood." he said calmly. "I'm fine...there's not a scratch on me."

Ginny checked and double checked to be sure. Once she had realized he had been telling the truth she began to relax a bit.

"Harry James Potter!" she shouted. "What is the big idea going and getting me all worked up over nothing!"

"Shhhh." said Harry putting a finger to his lips. "Where's Hermione?"

"She went into the kitchen." replied Ginny folding her arms across her chest and narrowing her eyes at her husband. "Now answer my question."

"Well...as I said before Gin, I was on assignment but something happened." started Harry.

He stepped into the floo and came out with a bloodied Severus Snape.

Ginny's eyes widened as she looked upon the clearly disoriented former Professor. He had looked positively ghastly standing in her sitting room with his worn ebony clothes reeking of drink and caked in dirt.

His face had been more pale than she remembered and there was evidence that he had bags under his eyes and the blows to the face had done little to take the attention off them. His hair had been lank and unclean as well as longer than she last recalled.

Before anyone could say a word, Hermione Granger stepped from the kitchen with the intention of calming her friend with a glass of water. What she found in the form of her bloodied ex-husband standing in the center of the sitting room being largely supported by Harry Potter and a quick charm to keep him upright despite his unconscious state had been something she never expected in a thousand years.

The sound of the glass leaving her hand in the wake of her new found shock and shattering at her feet had been the only thing to break the silence that passed between the inhabitants of the sitting room at that moment.

"Severus." she said putting a trembling hand over her mouth as if she had been afraid she would not be able to hold her composure.

The Potions Professor had merely remained unconscious as Harry Potter met his stunned friend's gaze. This certainly wasn't what he expected when he had been assigned to take down a criminal escapee in Knockturn Alley. He couldn't imagine what had been going through Hermione's mind.


	6. Chapter 5:The Burdens Of Responsibility

**Chapter 5:** _ **The Burdens Of**_ ** _Responsibility_**

 _ **{A/N: Here's Another update...}**_

 _ **My Thanks To All My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S.**_

 _The Sitting Room, The Potter Residence, Wizarding World..._

 **W** ithout saying a word, the former Mrs. Severus Snape moved toward the bloodied wizard, her hands out stretched and trembling as she did. It had been three months since she had seen her husband and in all that time she had resolved herself to never seeing the embittered Slytherin wizard again. All that changed the second she entered Harry Potter's sitting room and found him bloodied and unconscious. Her heart ached more so than it had from the severing of their marital bond. It had been as if she were being pulled by some invisible tether as she immediately began inspecting the wizard that had walked out of her life without so much as a backwards glance. The tears seemed to come on their own as her trembling hands moved noting the blood and the bruises. She felt his ribs knowing all too well that they had been broken. He would need professional medical care if he was going to keep the bone from puncturing his lungs, if they haven't already.

His sallow pale face had been swollen as a result of his eyes being blackened and his jaw being broken. Harry had been silent as he watched his best friend. He had not truly known how she was going to react to seeing Snape in this condition and it appeared to have shaken her quite a bit, this had been more attributed to the shock of seeing him again than his current state of health.

"Hermione?" said Ginny Potter watching her friend as close as her husband had given the situation.

"He needs a doctor." said Hermione not missing a beat as she continued to examine Snape with careful consideration. "His ribs are broken but I can't tell if there was enough damage to puncture his lung."

Ginny's eyes widened. She couldn't imagine what it must have been like for her friend to have been married to the former Potions Professor during the second wizarding war, or during his incarceration at Azkaban even.

"We'll take him to St. Mungo's." said Harry.

"No." replied Hermione with her eyes wide and a serious expression filed across her face.

"Why not?" asked the green eyed wizard with an arched eyebrow.

"He's...he doesn't trust them and given his status as a former death eater there could be someone lying in wait to finish the job knowing he would go there to be treated." explained the amber eyed witch as she turned her attention back to Snape.

"You may have a point." he said conceding to her judgement call.

"We have to get him to Hogwarts." said Hermione. "Madam Pomfrey still works there as a Med-Witch...she'll see that he gets better."

The green eyed wizard wanted to address how Hermione herself mostly trusted the old Med-Witch with her husband's care given all the wizard had suffered during the second wizarding war, but kept it to himself.

Ginny grabbed a handful of floo powder and threw it into the fireplace.

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 _Spare Bedroom, The Potter Residence, Wizarding World..._

The trip to Hogwarts brought back a good deal of memories. The school seemed to recognize Snape as The Headmaster despite him resigning and handing the position over to Minerva McGonagall years prior to his arrest and imprisonment in Azkaban for a second time since Voldemort's defeat.

Madam Pomfrey had been greatly concerned about Severus Snape since his leaving of Hogwarts. She had heard the news of his divorce from Miss Granger and began to check the obituaries for recently deceased wizards hoping she had not found his name among the dead and forgotten. Hermione had been the only bright spot in the poor wizard's shadow filled life and with her gone it was a sure thing that Snape would self-destruct out of the watchful gaze of anyone whom ever cared about him.

She had been right about his conduct as it were and immediately began to heal and medicate the stubborn unconscious wizard that had been like an unofficial son to her since his first year as a student of Hogwarts. Once the healing had been done, Madam Pomfrey wrapped his torso in bandages to ensure he healed without much trouble and instructed both Hermione and Harry to keep an eye on him.

They returned to Harry's place and put him in Hermione's bed for the time being.

It had only been a couple of hours since then but the amber eyed witch still couldn't take her eyes off the man she once called husband. He shifted some in his sleep, possibly trying to wade through yet another night terror. On instinct, Hermione had been on her feet and over to the sleeping wizard with her hand outstretched before she could stop herself.

She ran it along the soft pale flesh of his torso still showing signs of bruising as the potions slowly took effect. She had been rather surprised to learn that the older someone got the longer it would take for a potion to be absorbed by their body and it was no surprise that Snape would still be in pain given the nature of his injuries. Madam Pomfrey had managed to fix his punctured lung, one more thing Hermione had not been so pleased to be right about and realigned his notoriously large nose.

"Her-mion-ee." muttered Snape in his sleep.

The bushy haired witch smiled briefly willing her heart not to flutter due to the warmth she felt hearing him say her name.

"Can't escape you..." he muttered.

Sensing it would be counter productive to her overall sense of mental health to stay in this room any longer she attempted to pull away but found herself being pinned against him. She winced knowing all too well that his ribs had been still tender in the wake of their initial injury.

"Miss you." muttered the sleeping wizard holding her slender frame against his own pale lean form.

Hermione could feel the tears swelling in the wells of her eyes and before she could stop them, they flowed down her cheeks. It had been so long since she had been close to him, and even during their marriage he had never been so expressive in terms of his emotions...other than annoyance of course.

"I've missed you too." she admitted despite her apprehension.

"So beautiful..." he muttered then an expressive grunt escaped him.

Try as Hermione might to escape his grasp, Snape held on to her it seemed for dear life. With a resigned sigh, she made up her mind to just enjoy this while it lasted given how he had been liable to react once he awoke. She settled into his hold and took in the scent of herbs and fresh earth that always seemed to accompany Severus Snape even when being so far away from a potions lab.

He may not have been as easy to get along with as some of the other husband's but in his own way, Severus had been a good sort. His distant nature had not been his best feature as it were but the witch believed she could have done worse, she could have been married to a LeStrange.

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 _The Kitchen, The Potter Residence, Wizarding World..._

Both Harry and Ginerva Potter had been sitting quietly in their kitchen. The whole ordeal with Snape had thrown everyone through a loop and there was a good deal of concern for both he and Hermione at the moment. Harry had not been too sure the divorce had been the right call even with their marriage being the result of that insufferable law passed by Fudge before he was killed by Voldemort. Snape had done his part to save Hermione from the other death eaters and then some. Hermione had done her part to save Snape from war fanatics and of course himself for much of their marriage.

He sighed thinking back to the previous three months. Snape had not been enthusiastic about signing the divorce papers. He had done his best to suppress his emotions when it came to Hermione but Harry could tell from having the added benefit of recalling the dour man's memories that he had kept himself at a distance in a bid to guard his heart. Understandable, when one thought about it. Given the amount of heartbreak the poor man had suffered even before he began to crawl.

"You're still worried about him." said Ginny observing her husband.

Harry took a moment before he replied having just recently been shaken from his thoughts.

"I...Yes." he said in a saddened tone. "He's...not well."

"Well of course he isn't." said Ginny placing her hands on her hips. "From the looks of him I'm amazed he lasted this long."

"I was thinking...if Snape were to awaken and want to go back to...whatever he was doing to harm himself..." said Harry not at all wishing to think of the damage the older wizard would do to himself. "I-I couldn't live with myself if..."

"If something happened to him." said Ginny finishing the sentence for him.

Harry nodded.

"After everything the man's been through...I can't just sit back and watch him do this." he said.

"He may not want your help Harry." said the red head witch.

"I don't care." replied the green eyed wizard. "I won't let him do this to himself!"

As they two Potters continued their little chat, Hermione Granger made her way into the kitchen. The look on her face had been all business as she sat down to the kitchen table.

"Where did you find him?" she asked as calm as she could manage.

Harry met his best friend's gaze and resolved himself to telling her everything no matter how hard it had been for her to hear it.

"Knockturn Alley." replied the green eyed wizard honestly. "He was attempting to enter a brothel and had been plenty drunk at the time."

There was a brief moment of silence as Hermione processed this. _So he's been laying with whores and drinking excessively. He must have picked that nasty habit back up after the divorce. Of course he would with me not being around to keep on eye on him, he plunged off the deep end._

"How did he end up in that condition?" she asked with her face cleared of all emotion.

"I-I can't really recall much but there was this wealthy wizard..." began Harry trying to remember what happened. "I had decided to follow Snape after seeing him in the alley and he was jumped by the wealthy wizard and these fat blokes with big fists."

Again there was silence as Hermione took her time processing this new information. _He must have gotten into debt again or another wizard decided to try their hand at teaching him a lesson. Perhaps it was more trouble with his past._

"Anything else?" she asked expecting the worst had been yet to come.

"No." replied Harry. "That's everything I can recall."

Hermione sighed. She had been afraid something like this would happen. Her guilt over their divorce had only been intensified.

"He can't be left alone again." she said coming to the same conclusion Harry had only moments ago.

"That's what I've been telling Ginny." he said in agreement.

"He's not going to like this." piped the red head witch for the first time since Hermione entered the kitchen.

"Well, it clear he can't look after himself." said the amber eyed witch. "Besides, Harry and I are responsible for him."

Ginny conceded the point. The sole reason for his imprisonment at Azkaban being revoked had been because he was released into both Harry and Hermione's custody.

"So he'll have to stay here then." said Harry.

"I suppose so." replied Hermione not at all comfortable being under the same roof as her former husband again.

"I can't wait to see you give him the good news." said Ginny smirking. She had known Snape's brand of temper all too well, given she had been stuck with him at Hogwarts while Harry and Hermione went off to find Voldemort's Horcruxes.

The amber eyed witch and her best friend looked at each other for a moment. It was a lot easier to deal with Snape before when he had been married and grateful to be home from prison. They had no idea how he was going to react to this news now that he was divorced. If Hermione was a betting witch, she would of course place her galleons on her ex-husband being a complete and total git. Of course she would be right. Severus Snape was never one for willingly accepting the company of Harry James Potter, even with the understanding that had developed between them in the wake of Voldemort's fall.


	7. Chapter 6:Bitterness And Resentment At

**Chapter 6:** _ **Bitterness And Resentment At It's Finest**_

 _ **{A/N: Here's Another update...}**_

 _ **My Thanks To All My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S.**_

 _Spare Bedroom, The Potter Residence, Wizarding World..._

 **U** pon awakening, Severus Snape had taken into account the strange changes concerning his body as he drifted from pleasant unconsciousness and opened his obsidian eyes. His surroundings had been rather strange as it were. He had been used to finding himself on the creaky hard wood floor back at Spinner's End with a few dozen empty bottles of firewhiskey all around him. On occasion, he would fumble about until he found a half finished one and start his day. This time however, he noticed he had been in a strange bedroom with an even strange set of covers draped over his half naked body. It had not escaped Snape's notice that he had been surrounded by warmth and the overwhelming scent of jasmine as he took in a deep breath. He had not recalled going to bed the previous night, come to think of it he had not recalled very much of what happened the previous night. Not that it had been new to him. Some days he went on a bender only to wake up emptying his stomach of it's contents in some toilet bowl while trying desperately to bury the images of his ex-wife that kept creeping back despite his suppression.

The distinctive feel of his usual aches and pains had been long gone as if he had been trapped in some sort of lucid dream.

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 _Sitting Room, The Potter Residence, Wizarding World..._

The call of nature had shaken him from his thoughts as he fumbled out of the bed and made his way toward the bedroom door. As the Potions Professor stepped into the narrow second story hall, he made his way to what he had guessed had been the loo. His head had been a bit fizzy, but without the all too familiar pain of a headache that usual accompanied a night of drink.

Once he had concluded his business in the loo, he washed his hands noting the strange decor perhaps for the first time as he looked around. This place had been nothing like the brothel he had been use to, the toilets there had been more or less general in accommodation for the clientele and there was never a homely sense about such a place. It had been the kind of place men without families found themselves more often than not. If ever there was a man without family, he had been it.

He splashed some water on his face, wetting his beard and the strands of raven colored locks that dangled in front of his eyes masking his face from his view. He slicked his hair back turned his attention to his reflection. He had seen better days since before the second war's end but it seemed this particular day had been a good one as far as his health had been concerned. The bags had been gone that lined his sullen eyes and he seemed to have a more youthful appearance.

Thinking nothing of it, Snape exited the loo and made his way down the stairs, his bare feet coming into contact with the hard wood floor and finding it had been charmed for comfort. This was most definitely not a brothel. Snape crept into what appeared to be a homely sitting room and heard the voices of the this strange place's inhabitants.

{"All I'm saying is this could be the only chance he's got."} said the voice clearly male and so very familiar.

{"I know."} replied the second voice obviously female. {"It's what he needs."}

Snape's breath had gotten caught in this throat as he recognized the female voice. It had been the same voice that haunted his dreams and waking hours respectively. Hermione Granger, resident bushy haired insufferable know it all.

How dare she?

How dare she interfere with his life after he had gone through the trouble of giving her back her own?!

The male spoke again although, Snape had been too embroiled in his fury to make out what he had said. He recognized the voice as well. His fury seemed to increase as it became all too clear where he had been.

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 _The Kitchen, The Potter Residence, Wizarding World..._

All talking ceased the second Severus Snape entered the kitchen. The eyes of the three former Gryffindor students met those of their former Potions Professor and they could tell he was quite furious with them. Hermione for her part had contented herself to sipping her tea in a bid to distract herself from noting Snape's numerous scars that lined his exposed pale chest as it expanded and contracted with his rabid breathing.

"WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO INTERFERE IN BUSINESS THAT DOES NOT CONCERN YOU!?" he shouted his deep baritone rich voice undoubtedly conveying rage.

"Settle down Severus." said Hermione sipping her tea.

The obsidian eyes of The Potions Master flicked toward his former wife and a look of all out contempt filed across his face. He had no idea why she saw fit to interfere in his life after he had given her what she had wanted.

"Do not presume to tell me what I can and cannot do Miss Granger." he replied coldly.

Hermione's amber eyes flickered with rage as she got to her feet.

"I am trying to keep things civil between us because of Harry and Ginny you stupid git." she replied unable to keep her temper in check. "And what is it about your miserable existence that needs to be kept private given how you've been drinking like a fish and bedding whores like a rutting sixth year!"

"One of the perks of divorce is that I do not have to care about what I do on my own time insulting your delicate little Gryffindor sensibilities." countered Snape.

"Getting drunk and bedding whores from _Merlin knows where_ has nothing to do with my sensibilities or being a Gryffindor." said Hermione narrowing her amber eyes at the half naked git.

"It seem we finally agree on something." said Snape.

Hermione turned toward Harry who shook his head.

The bushy haired witch held her tongue and marched out of the kitchen. She headed up the stairs to her respective room and slammed the door behind her. It wasn't the first time the greasy git and she got into a fight. There had been plenty of those when they were married. The slamming of doors had been common at Spinner's End.

"You didn't have to do that." said Harry with a sorrowful expression on his face. "Mione still cares a great deal for you, Sir."

"I did not ask for her assistance nor yours for that matter Potter." spat Snape in contempt. "Now I demand to know why you thought it your business to interfere in my life for the umpteenth time?"

"Well...to be honest sir...it was the condition of your release from Azkaban that I and Hermione take full responsibility for you." said the green eyed wizard meeting his former Professor's eyes.

Snape had been none too pleased to hear this as it meant that his life had be at the mercy of more meddling Gryffindors, one being the most detestable boy in existence and the other his insufferable former wife.

"I'd rather go back to Azkaban." he muttered bitterly.

Harry smiled not at all taking the older wizard seriously.

"Sorry sir, but given your antics as of late you have no choice but to remain in my sole custody given how Hermione feels about you at the moment." he informed the former Potions Professor.

"You cannot be serious." he said finding himself having his fill of being in the Potter boy's presence.

"I'm afraid I am." replied Harry. "There are wards in place to ensure that you cannot leave without a proper escort be it myself or Hermione...I'm sorry that it's come to this Professor but we are responsible for you and I've allowed you time to yourself thus far."

The embittered wizard knew all too well this mean that it had been Potter that negotiated his minor use of magic given the Ministry of Magic moved to suppress it altogether. It did little to quell the urge to hex the boy into oblivion.

"And where do you suggest I sleep, given this house isn't nearly large enough to accommodate the number of inhabitants and your future child." he spat in a cold tone.

"Well...for now I guess you can have the sofa." said Harry in a pleasant tone. "Hermione will keep an eye on you while I'm at work and Ginny could use the company...she'd love to spend some time with you."

Snape arched an eyebrow at this in his usual inquisitive style. He doubted Ginerva Weasley Potter had been thrilled with his presence in her home. Especially given his history with her best friend Hermione Granger and the friction between the two of them when he served as Headmaster of Hogwarts following Dumbledore's death.

"Somehow Potter, I doubt that." replied Snape in a cold tone before he turned and walked out of the kitchen.

He had gotten half way to the sofa, his apparent new bed in this Potter infested hell and realized that he had been without clothing. The minor oversight had been of little importance as he began to contemplate obtaining his next drink. Potter had dared put him on restriction concerning outside travel so going to a pub had been out of the question.

 _This was just what he needed. No firewhiskey, no distraction of willing witches, and no way to get away from Hermione Granger it seemed._


	8. Chapter 7:When Thickheaded Meets Down R

**Chapter 7:** _ **When Thickheaded Meets Down Right Stubborn**_

 _ **{A/N: Here's Another update...been awhile for this one...}**_

 _ **My Thanks To All My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S.**_

 _The Potter Residence,The Burrows, Wizarding World..._

 **S** unset had come and Severus Snape had still been sitting in the center of the open field since Harry Potter's departure. He had long since transfigured his trademark attire and took his leave of Potter's home only to find he had been stripped of his ability to apparate. The embittered Potions Master decided to sulk in the field where he had been as far away from Harry Potter and his meddling household as he could possibly get. Hermione Granger could see him from the sitting room window, it never ceased to amaze her how far Severus would go with his stubborn nature. She had been married to the moody git and still she had no answers for his antics.

"Is he still out there?" asked Ginny settling onto the sofa with a look of concern etched across her face.

"Yes." replied Hermione with a pitiful sigh. "The stupid greasy git refuses to come inside since Harry barred him from leaving."

"I wonder if he's hungry." said Ginny lost in thought as she too looked out at the seemingly miserable wizard. "He has been out there a while."

The amber eyed witch couldn't seem to tear herself away from the miserable sight that had been her former husband. She didn't understand why he couldn't just live a normal life. The war had been over and true enough his torments were not likely to do him any favors but Severus seemed intent on being unhappy for the rest of his life.

She could see the bitterness that had been coming off him in waves since he stormed the kitchen earlier that morning. His rude comments to her and Harry both were standard for him when he's been detoxed passed a day. She knew all too well that his antics and isolation would get worse since Harry was imposing his will on him.

It had been exactly the wrong approach when dealing with Severus Snape given his former lifestyle where he lived at the command of two different masters in the wizarding wars. The time he spent in Azkaban had saw more scars and trauma inflicted upon him and she had done everything in her power to assist him as best she could and it seemed as if he had been coming around before the Marriage Law Act was repelled.

She hadn't spoken to him since they signed those divorce papers three months prior and what little she had heard from concerned friends had only served to worry her all the more.

"I'd better go feed the git then." said Hermione with a sigh.

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 _Open field_ _, The Burrows, Wizarding World..._

Severus Snape glared at the insufferable witch as she marched out of the house and toward him with a plate covered with two sandwiches and a glass of lemonade. He had not asked her for her charity any more than he had asked Potter for his. As far as he was concerned he owed neither of them anything more than he had already given.

"You might as well march back into that house because I am in no mood for your antics, Miss Granger." he said rather harshly.

"I can to give you food arrogant git." countered Hermione.

She had no fear of his abrasive wit given how long she had to endure it for the duration of their marriage.

"I don't want it." said Snape bitterly.

"Too bad." replied Hermione. "You and I both know that this can go one of two ways Severus and sooner or later you'll eat the sandwich."

The Potions Master narrowed his eyes at the amber eyed witch whom had no intention of backing down.

"I didn't ask to come here." he muttered still evidently bitter as he scooped the sandwich off the plate and bit into it.

Hermione did well in hiding her relief that he must have been hungry enough not to put up much of a fight. Not fighting about something in any way would not have been the Severus she spent the last six years with.

"I ate the blasted sandwich you can go now." he said finishing it off.

"They're both for you." said Hermione not taking her eyes off him. "You probably haven't eaten in days."

Snape rolled his eyes.

"Come to lecture me then?" he muttered.

"Well somebody should." she replied equally bitter in her tone. "Why do you keep doing this to yourself...haven't you punished yourself enough?"

Snape finished off the second sandwich to get her off his back and made short work of the lemonade that he presumed was for him before getting to his feet and walking away without a word of thanks for her kindness.

Hermione was left enraged by his lack of emotions as per the usual.

"Stupid git." she muttered making her way back inside the house.

Ginny burst into laughter once her best friend entered.

"I can see why you two stayed together for so long." she said amused.

"It's not funny Ginny." said Hermione as she narrowed her eyes at her friend. "That git is worse than when we were married."

"Perhaps there is a reason for it." said The expecting Mrs. Harry James Potter. "Maybe he misses you."

"Right." said Hermione skeptical. "He missed me so much he decided to be a complete git in a bid to process his overwhelming emotions."

Ginny shook her head.

"He must have liked you at some point." she said at a loss for how to spell what had been so obvious to her out for the bushy haired witch to grasp.

"I seriously doubt that." replied the amber eyed witch with another sigh. "At least he's got some food in him...for however long that lasts."

"What's that suppose to mean?" asked the red head witch.

"Severus can never really hold food down for long after drinking so much." said Hermione in a saddened tone. "It's a problem I couldn't quite figure out how to solve while we were married."

"How awful." said Ginny looking out the window in the direction of the Potions Master.

Hermione couldn't deny being concerned for her former husband. His antics were clearly getting out of hand if Harry Potter found him in a dirty ally bloodied and beaten.

"Severus...when are you going to stop punishing yourself?" she said softly watching him from afar.

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 _The Potter Residence, The Burrows, Wizarding World..._

Night had fallen and Snape was doubled over as he continued to vomit the contents of his stomach. It had been hours since he had eaten those sandwiches but his stomach continued to reject anything else. Harry had come home hours ago and attempted to make conversation with Snape only to be met with his familiar icy rejection. It had been quite a thing when Snape informed him that he may have barred him from leaving The Burrows but that did not mean he had to venture into his home for any reason.

"The bloody man is stubborn I'll give him that." said Harry looking at Snape from the porch.

"Thickheaded his more the like." replied Hermione more than enraged at Snape's antics. "He's doing this to punish us for being concerned about him."

"I know." replied Harry.

His understanding of Snape increasing since the war's end.

"Well, if he wants to spend the night outside like an animal who are we to stand in his way?" asked the amber eyed witch.

"I suppose you're right Mione." said the green eyed wizard. "Snape's made up his mind about our assistance but there's no way he's going to be able to freely hurt himself."

They had both agreed waiting for Severus Snape to give in and venture into the house was a waste of time. It wasn't long before Hermione got an idea of her own.

"Harry, why don't you go off to bed." she said. "I'll watch after Severus...besides you have work in the morning."

"A-Are you sure about that Mione..." said Harry yawning. "I mean...Snape is kind of my problem."

"Off to bed." said Hermione stern in her tone. "I'll deal with Severus."

"If you are sure..." he attempted.

"Harry...bed." she said.

Harry Potter made his way to bed knowing it was futile to argue with Hermione Granger on matters where she had already made up her mind. He had wondered if Snape had learned this during his time as her husband. If not there was going to be some fireworks tonight, and the green eyed wizard was almost sorry he'd miss them.

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 _Open field, The Burrows, Wizarding World..._

Hermione Granger narrowed her eyes at her former husband as she briskly made her way out into the elements. Snape rolled his eyes when he caught sight of her but made no move to go anywhere. He didn't have much to say and neither did she as she stood with him in the cold night air without regard for her own health or safety. During their marriage she had won many a stalemate with her insistence upon giving herself the same treatment he had been giving himself on occasion. She hoped that this time would work as well as those other times had.

"What are you doing out here?" asked Snape clearly annoyed by her presence.

"What does it look like?" asked Hermione defiantly. "I'm enjoying the night air."

"Go back inside this is no place for you at this time of night." said Snape still with annoyance in his tone.

"I have as much right to bask in the night air as you do." said the amber eyed witch.

The obsidian eyes of The Potions Professor narrowed at his former wife.

"Like hell you do...you and I both know you can't take the cold." he replied.

"Well this time will be different." said Hermione still defiant.

"Get back inside now witch." said Snape.

"I don't have to take orders from you, your no longer my Professor nor are you my husband." she said knowing all too well that it only served to intensify Snape's rage.

"You're not going to win this time." he said suddenly. "If you want to freeze then so be it, as you said...you are no longer my student nor are you my wife my obligation in terms of your safety is at an end."

Hermione had not expected this but kept her composure.

"Glad we got that settled." she said before looking back out into the darkened field as if she had not a care in the world.

Snape rolled his eyes. He had no intention of playing this game. If she wanted to freeze then that was her business. He had simply wished to be left alone.


	9. Chapter 8:The Raging Storm Of Anguish

**Chapter 8:** _ **The Raging Storm Of**_ ** _Anguish_**

 _ **{A/N: Here's Another update...}**_

 _ **My Thanks To All My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S.**_

 _ **{"You call to me, and I fall at your feet...How could anyone ask for more?...And our time apart, like knives in my heart...How could anyone ask for more?...But if there's a pill to help me forget,...God knows I haven't found it yet...But I'm dying to, God I'm trying to...'Cause trying not to love you, only goes so far...Trying not to need you, is tearing me apart...Can't see the silver lining, from down here on the floor...And I just keep on trying, but I don't know what for...'Cause trying not to love you...Only makes me love you more...Only makes me love you more..."}Trying Not To Love You, Nickleback**_

 _Open Field, The Potter Residence, Wizarding World..._

 **C** over of night did little to hide the effects of ending a six year marriage as Snape stood with his arms folded across his ebony clad chest. The stubborn witch had been beside him, determined to get him to see that she still held some residual feelings for him. He had not known why she persisted on this course, their marriage was well and truly over as it should have been given the years wasted due to that idiot Fudge's Marriage Law. He had been of the mind that she had been better off if only she'd see it as he did.

"Talk to me Severus." said Hermione fed up with the silence that had grown between them.

"I have nothing more to say to you." said Snape bitterly. "I may be forced to endure yours and Potter's company but nothing demands that I engage either of you in active conversation."

"Why are you being so cold?" asked the young witch on the verge of tears. "Ever since..."

"Stop. Right. There." said Snape, his obsidian eyes narrowed and his tone full with warning. "I have no interest in taking a stroll down memory lane...I am well aware of my shortcomings as well as what isn't in terms of our former relationship."

"It wasn't my fault." said Hermione narrowing her eyes at him in reaction to him treating her pain of some trivial inconvenience to him.

"Who's to say that you were the target of blame?" asked Snape with an arched eyebrow. "I distinctly recall it being the fault of another and I am not of the mind to discuss this any further with you or anyone else.

"We never discussed what happened to..." began Hermione before correcting herself. "We never discuss anything...all you do is get drunk and lay with whores."

"That's right." replied Snape, his eyes glinting in a malicious fashion. "At least they have the decency to be adequate in their uses."

Hermione knew all too well the inevitable sting of his abrasive tongue would not be far behind if she continued to push him further. She had taken quite a few of his most pivotal jabs at her competence as a wife. It was only a matter of time before he shattered the wall of her confidence if she continued on with this course of action.

"Once I am free of this green grass prison I intend to continue on with my...drink and whores as you so eloquently put it." replied Snape hitting her where it hurt.

Hermione felt her rage boiling to the surface and before she could get a hold of herself, she reacted. The amber eyes of the witch widened as she realized her hand had moved in front of her without her knowledge and struck the sallow pale cheek of her former husband.

For his part, Snape weathered the blow as he had so many other attacks against his person. The mark she left on the side of his cheek gave him a bit of color if at all temporarily. His eyes seemed to harden as she drew back in overwhelming shock.

"I suppose that idea does not please you." said Snape as if she had merely inconvenienced him instead of leaving a red hand print across his face.

Ashamed of her actions, the bushy haired witch made for the house almost immediately. Snape gave her several seconds before his lengthy strides caught up to her. He had known all too well that she would never forgive herself for what she had done to him, and she'd beat herself up for weeks until she thought she could atone for her "grievous crime".

The Potions Master caught the young witch just as she entered the front door and pulled her to him.

"Let me go Severus." she said wishing to get as far away from him as she could possibly manage.

"Turnabout is fair play it seems." he replied continuing to pull the young witch close to him until her chest pressed against his own.

"L-Let me go." said Hermione as tears began to stream down her supple cheeks.

"It wasn't your fault." he said softly.

Her tears only seemed to increase despite the intent of his gesture.

"I am gifted with an ability to inspire hate from even the most pure-hearted of individuals." said Snape holding her as she continued to weep.

"I-I don't hate you Severus." she replied truthfully.

"No." replied Snape observant even if he was invading her mind at an undetectable rate. "You save all of your hatred for yourself."

"If I had not wanted to go on that stupid trip he'd still be here." said Hermione.

"Quiet." said The Potions Master still holding her.

"It is my fault." she said between sobs. "It's why you don't love me anymore."

Hearing this, Severus Snape was struck with a wave of sympathy for the young witch whom had once been his wife. He scooped her into his arms and carried her up the stairs toward her given bed room.

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 _Moments Later..._

Snape carried a physically and emotionally exhausted Hermione Granger into what had been her given bedroom in the Potter household. She leaned against his chest listening to the sound of his heartbeat despite his attempts to distance himself from her, it had always been a soothing sound as far as she was concerned. He lied her down as carefully as he could manage before stripping off his coat and locking the bedroom door. The amber eyed witch had sighed in relief when her former husband climbed into bed beside her.

There had been an easy silence between them for a few moments before Hermione turned to face the impassive, expressionless, wizard only to find that he had been fast asleep. She had not been a fool, she had known this was possibly the most he had slept since their untimely divorce given it was the only way he could sleep when they were together.

He had his fair share of new scars given what happened to him that night Harry brought him in. Silent tears continued to stream down her cheeks as she scooted closer to her stubborn husband. He had still been determined to punish himself for things he had suffered quiet a bit over given the number of years that had passed since his most offensive act had been recorded. The death of Albus Dumbledore bothered him immensely and despite repaying his debt in more than one fashion, Severus was still determined to suffer just because of his existence.

"Why can't you just be happy?" asked Hermione softly in the darkness as she stroked his sallow pale cheek. "Why couldn't I make you happy?"

The tell tale sign of the former Potions Professor being in a deep sleep had been enough of a comfort for her to know that he at least wouldn't be going outside until a decent hour and she began to get comfortable herself finally at peace for the first time in three months with her ex-husband in bed beside her.

Severus Snape had not been as "asleep" as his young former wife believed. In truth, he never had been. He sighed knowing all too well that any attempt to get out of bed would alert her as he stared up at the ceiling. It wasn't as if he wished for this miserable existence as she so often believed given his past, it was more or less that it always seemed to get the better of him.

"I am not one for happiness." he whispered in the dark. "You will do well to remember that."

Seeming to have given up any hope of getting away from the bushy haired witch for the night, Severus Snape turned his back to the sleeping girl whom had become a woman so quickly during their arranged marriage that he hardly noticed.

Hermione scooted closer to him instinctively seeking his body for warmth and comfort like she had so many nights prior during their surprisingly lengthy marriage to her former Potions Professor.

They had each given in to sleep as the night passed without further incident.

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 _Open field, The Potter Residence, Wizarding World..._

Harry James Potter had been staring at the ebony clad figure of Severus Snape for a while as he drank down his morning coffee. He had not understood what made Snape want to suddenly push Hermione away but he knew anything about the dour wizard it was what he learned about Snape during the war and the subsequent school years he had known him, despite appearances Snape seldom acted without reason.

The green eyed wizard deduced that something was going on, something big that fit why Snape wanted Hermione safely away from him.

The Potions Master had gone through a good deal of trouble to convince Hermione she had been better off without him, even going so far to use drink and Knockturn alley whores in a bid to put some distance between them.

After finishing off his coffee, Harry decided it was time for a real chat with the old sod.

Snape had been unimpressed when Harry Potter made his way over toward him.

He barely could be bothered to lift a glance his way.

The younger wizard didn't take offense, he knew how Snape felt about him and he had of course earned the man's disfavor during their time at Hogwarts.

"Are you going to tell me who it is that's after you or would you like me to enlighten Hermione as to the real reason you and she are divorced?" asked Harry with an arched brow.

Snape simply stared out into the open field.

"Come on Severus." said Harry. "I know you better than you think I do."

"And yet you believe I give a damn." replied Snape with his arms folded across his ebony clad chest.

Harry sighed.

"That attack wasn't your fault." he said.

Snape glared rather murderously at the green eyed wizard.

"I wish to be alone Potter." he said in a dangerous tone.

The younger wizard sighed once more. It appeared that Snape was intent on being stubborn about this situation.

"She still loves you, you know." he said before turning to make his way back toward the house. "Some nights she can't go to sleep without crying."

"Then it's all the better for her that this farce of a marriage ended when it did then." he replied coldly.

"Posture all you'd like Snape but I know you still love Mione." said Harry meaningfully. "You're not the kind of wizard that so easily buries his feelings."

"You know nothing of me boy." said Snape bitterly.

The green eyed wizard shook his head.

"I hope for your sake you come around...possibly before she finds some one else and has good reason to give up on you." he added before walking away.

Snape said nothing as he stared out into the vast field _._

 _He'd welcome a new wizard sniffing about the needy witch so long as she steered clear of him._


	10. Chapter 9:The Elephant In The Room

**Chapter 9: _The Elephant In The Room_**

 _ **{A/N: Here's Another update...}**_

 _ **My Thanks To All My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S.**_

 ** _{"I'm covering my ears like a kid...When your words mean nothing, I go la la la...I'm turning up the volume when you speak...'Cause if my heart can't stop it,...I find a way to block it, I go...La la, la la la la la na na na na na..."} La La La,Naughty Boy ft. Sam Smith_**

 _Open Field, The Potter Residence, Wizarding World..._

 **H** ermione had been determined to get through to Severus and made up her mind to get him to talk to her even if he hexed her into oblivion. She had not understood why he had been so distant and intent on punishing himself. The lack of emotion from him concerning the loss of their child and the improbability of the two of them having any other children during their marriage had been weighing heavily on her. She had blamed herself for the loss of their baby but it seemed all to clear that Severus believed he had been at fault. The amber eyed witch had been young but she was far from stupid. She had known her former husband was intent on punishing himself due to such an innocent life being taken.

Severus had been up for hours, she had known this much as well but she knew exactly where he would be.

Without the drink and the whores she knew he was having a difficult time coping with the prospect of facing this directly. Steeling herself for his inevitable wrath due to her presence, she had enough of not being heard during their marriage for fear of what he would do to himself.

When she got close to him she could see the look of rage briefly file across his sallow pale face. His arms had been folded across his ebony clad chest as she got even closer. He attempted to ignore her but it was to no avail.

"We are going to talk about this Severus." she said meeting his hostile gaze.

"I will not do this." he said attempting to walk away.

Hermione was right behind him.

"Severus please." she said making the mistake of involving emotion into this discussion.

"Just like a woman...you never know when to quite while you are ahead." he muttered bitterly.

"And just like a stubborn thickheaded git you resort to insults just to keep from acknowledging your pain." Hermione shot back.

"What the fuck do you want from me?" asked Snape angrily. "I don't want to talk about this...you are no longer my problem go an bother someone else...preferably someone your own age."

"No." replied Hermione. "Seeing as your the one that got me pregnant I see it fitting to involve you."

"Fuck you." said Snape storming off deeper into the field.

Hermione was not willing to give up that easily.

"He was my son too." she said bitterly. "You think that I don't miss him?"

"Stop." said Severus cutting through the tall grasses. "I do not wish to fucking hear this."

"Not talking about it isn't going to make it any less real." said Hermione catching up to him.

Enraged and annoyed Snape whirled around on her.

"YOU SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN PREGNANT IN THE FIRST PLACE!" he shouted.

Hermione had been taken aback by his comment.

Snape's obsidian eyes had been blazing with rage as he proceeded.

"You were never supposed to be pregnant to begin with." he continued. "I was taking impotency potion to keep this from happening...but you had to push and prod just because you saw your idiot girlfriends pushing around their baby strollers barely out of Hogwarts."

Hermione suddenly narrowed her eyes as she took in what he was saying. All this time she believed there had been something wrong with her that made it so that she couldn't carry a child and it was her Potions Master Husband that had been the cause of it all along. She believed she had failed him not being able to get pregnant again following the loss of their child and he was keeping her from having one of his own accord.

"You fucking bastard." said the amber eyed witch clearly shaken from his admission. "You made me think that I was..."

Severus stood before her more than prepared to weather the storm of her rage as her eyes began to blaze behind her grief.

"How dare you?" she asked clearly still angry with him. "How fucking dare you decided my future for me!"

"Isn't that not what you did to me?" he asked. "This marriage was never real to begin with...it's time you faced facts."

Tears began to swell within the corners of Hermione's amber eyes.

All this time, Severus was making her believe that she could never carry children to term.

"You're not going to get out of this." she said bitterly. "and you are not going to use me to punish yourself."

"There is nothing left to speak about." he replied coldly.

Hermione was hearing none of it.

"Our son is dead." she said. "And like it or not it hurts...you being a coward is not going to change that."

Snape had become enraged when that word fell from her lips.

"I am no coward." he said in a dangerous tone.

"What do you call it then when a man petitions for divorce just to avoid having to grieve the loss of his child?" asked Hermione still bitter.

Snape suddenly lifted the young witch off the ground as the tall grasses surrounded the two of them.

"Tell me Granger, is my cock so important to you that you'd blatantly ignore the atrocities I've committed against you?" he asked with a coldness behind his eyes. "Bed another wizard and I will be little more than a footnote in your mind's eye."

"This isn't about sex." said Hermione angrily. "This is about you being a right bastard despite the fact that you love me."

"We all have our delusions." he replied bitterly.

"Am I?" asked Hermione suddenly stepping forward and pressing her hands against his ebony clad chest.

Snape closed his eyes despite himself. He cursed the way her delicate touch still effected him.

"Like it or not, Severus..." she said meeting his harsh gaze with a harsh gaze of her own. "Our relationship wasn't as meaningless as you make it out to be."

Being married for as long as they had been, Hermione knew full well how to push his buttons, of course it worked both ways as he knew exactly how to push hers in whatever direction he saw fit. He grabbed her by the wrists and glared rather murderously at her for a moment.

"You're old news." he replied harshly. "I much prefer to try my hand at women that can actually please me."

The he took off into the field leaving her standing there struggling with her heartache.


	11. Chapter 10:Selfishness And Cold Percept

_**Chapter 10: Selfishness And Cold** **Perception**_

 _ **{A/N: Here's Another update...}**_

 _ **My Thanks To All My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S.**_

 _ **{"**_ ** _Your voice is killing me..._** ** _Your words are hard as they come..._** ** _Thoughts that sit in here, fall like bullets to the floor..._** ** _Your heart is pulling me, the cut runs deeper as it flows..._** ** _Scars that cannot heal, the hurt is covered to the bone..._** ** _Cause every time it gets so complicated while I'm lying down in doubt..._** ** _I'll just tell myself I'm leaving here..._** ** _Cause I'm selfish and I'm cold and I feel like the world is ending..._** ** _Faithless and I'm fallen again..._** ** _Cause I'm selfish and I'm cold and I feel like we're all pretending..._** ** _Careless and I'm lonely again..._** ** _And I am torn on the inside..._** _ **"}Selfish And Cold, Rev Theory**_

 _Open Field, The Potter Residence, Wizarding World..._

 **R** age filled the heart of Severus Snape as he watched Hermione make her way back toward the house. He had hurt her once again but it was all he could do given how persistent she had been. It was difficult enough walking away from her the night he signed the petition for the divorce. He knew it was best for her, his marriage was simply arranged to keep her from the clutches of the other death eaters while the dark lord roamed the world. The old leaders met their end at the hands of the despot and there had been no longer a need to protect her. In fact, Severus found that his being her husband had the opposite effect of when it was intended. His name and her association with him only seemed to bring her misery. The attack while they were visiting Hogsmeade for the holiday had been the tip of the ice berg.

Hermione had lost the baby in the wake of the attack and it had all be due to a few wizards and witches having animosity toward Snape for his murder of Albus Dumbledore despite it being revealed as a strategic plot on the part of the deceased elder wizard. He had been use to mock and ridicule it seemed apart of his very existence no matter where he went. Hermione weathered the indignity of being his wife for quite a few years without complaint but he simply wrote it off as her trying to make the best of an impossible situation.

He had not taken into account as to how much she loved him.

Following the news of her miscarrying their child, Severus Snape made up his mind to distance himself from the witch in a bid to give her a fighting chance. He could deal with the attacks on him in any way shape or form but he wasn't going to sit by idly and allow them to hurt Hermione. Despite his demeanor he had cared for the witch but she knew little of what had been good for her.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

 _St. Mungo's Hospital, Muggle World...(Two Years Prior...)_

 _Severus Snape had been frantic as he scooped Hermione into his arms. She had been struck by an offending spell and had been bleeding a great deal. The on lookers had no love loss for him as they watched him scramble to collect her from the snow bank and her blood continued to flow rather heavily from her wound. She had been slipping into shock as she leaned against him. He could feel her shallow breathing as he hurried fearful of wither or not apparition would do more harm than good. He finally decided on flying outright and held her tight to him._

 _"T-The baby Severus." she said in agony as she began to slip into unconsciousness. "Save our baby."_

 _"Hermione." he said softly. "Just hold on...we're almost to the hospital."_

 _The Potions Master flew his wife to St. Mungo's Hospital and quickly had her admitted in the emergency room. There had been blood all over the both of them but he only suffered minor injuries._

 _The doctors wheeled her into the back to properly care for her as Snape did his best to answer all the much needed questions to further their ability to assist her. He had never been more afraid of anything since the fall of the dark lord._

 _"What's he doing here?" asked one of the younger nurses with a look of disgust filed across her face._

 _Another had joined her apparently agreeing with her perception of him._

 _"I didn't know St. Mungo's allowed those murderers to seek treatment." she said bitterly._

 _Snape had nothing to retort given that he had indeed been a murderer._

 _Given his status as most hated wizard in the world, he felt it would have been better to keep a low profile. He made his way toward the clerk whom had not approved of his appearance much either._

 _"Well if it isn't Severus Snape." she said bitterly. "The resident murderer of Albus Dumbledore."_

 _Snape kept his annoyance in check out of concern for Hermione._

 _"I am well aware of popular opinion concerning myself, but I am not interested in hearing it at the moment my concerns are for my wife...she was pregnant and..." he began only to find himself interrupted by another wizard who's wife was in labor._

 _"Can I get some assistance here?" he asked frantic._

 _The clerk immediately set to work assisting the frantic man and his wife._

 _"Sir you'll have to wait in the lobby." she said politely. "You too."_

 _Snape nodded taking her less than savory words to him with a grain of salt._

 _He and the expecting father made their way into the lobby to await news of their respective wives' conditions._

 _"They shouldn't let you in here." said the expecting father narrowing his eyes at Snape. "All the people you killed...and possibly put in here have rights too."_

 _Snape had been so focused on Hermione that he had not bothered to listen to the man's entire rant._

 _"I beg your pardon." he said not at all understanding what his past had to do with what was happening in their current situation._

 _"My kid sister was attending Hogwarts when you were Headmaster for that freak Voldemort." said the expecting father with a harsh expression on his face._

 _It had only taken a second, a mere second to note the intent behind his eyes before Snape was up from his seat and tackling the younger wizard before he got the chance to let off his spell._

 _More panic filled the Potions Master as he knocked the younger wizard out cold and stole his wand._

 _He charged toward the last place he had seen them take Hermione fearful of what other manner of attack his enemies would have in store for him. Moving quickly through the rooms avoiding the staff, Severus Snape entered the room that held a sleeping Hermione as she recovered from the first attack only to find that she had been in the cross hairs of an enemy._

 _The pregnant woman whom had come with the expecting father from the lobby had been poised to murder Hermione in her sleep._

 _"EXPELLIARMUS!" shouted Snape sending the woman flying via her companion's wand._

 _He rushed over toward Hermione, healed her wounds and jumped out the window with her in his arms._

 _SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS_

 _Open field, The Burrows, Wizarding World..._

Severus Snape had been on his knees as the pain from that memory continued to torment him. it wasn't as if he didn't love Hermione. He had loved her more than she even knew but he wasn't about to let her become complacent in a relationship with him given the numerous enemies he had. He nearly lost her that day unbeknownst to him and he wasn't about to live through it a second time.

If being a coward in her eyes was the only way to keep her safe, then he would do it no matter how much it hurt for her to look at him as if he were less than nothing.


	12. Chapter 11:The Acquisition Of Truth

_**Chapter 11: The Acquisition Of Truth**_

 _ **{A/N: Here's Another update...let's be honest some of you were hoping for something like this weren't you?}**_

 _ **My Thanks To All My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S.**_

 ** _{"_** ** _Is this real?..._** ** _Or is it just another crazy dream?..._** ** _Someday soon will fade away..._** ** _Feels just like I'm under water and can barely breathe..._** ** _Dying in the bed that I have made..._** ** _I don't wanna drown in you..._** ** _I'm sinking, then I'm torn in two..._** ** _So when you see me come up for air..._** ** _Don't try to hold me down, just save me now..._** ** _Don't let me drown in you..._** ** _"}Drown In You, Daughtry_**

 _Spare Bedroom, The Potter Residence, Wizarding World..._

 **T** he last thing Severus Snape recalled as he stood alone in the field was the sudden and stinging sensation of a spell hitting him full blast. He collapsed as everything went blank. When he awoke he found that he had been bound at the limbs to a bed in a semi darkened room. If that had not been bad enough, Hermione Granger was straddling his chest with her wand pointed at him and a look of utter rage filed across her tear stained face.

"Hermione?" said Snape struggling against the magical binds. "What the hell has gotten into you?"

The furious witch's gaze seemed to burn into him as he glared back up at her. He had known all too well that he had hurt her. His admission hit it's mark as the tears continued to fall down her supple cheeks. She had wanted children more than she even knew and he had stole her dreams of such an ordeal in the wake of the damage done at Hogsmeade.

"You are not getting off that easy Severus." she said aiming her wand at him.

He could tell that there had been a good deal of sadness behind her eyes due to his betrayal as well as a good deal of rage. Everything in him wished to break the bonds that held him so that he could comfort her but he fought against it. Reasoning that the distance needed to be put between them given his long list of enemies.

"You don't get to decide what I do with my life Severus." said Hermione bitterly. "You knew how upset I was at the loss of our child but never once did I blame you...but you had the audacity to allow me to think the reason I couldn't get pregnant was because of me."

Snape said nothing as she continued to glare back at him her rage seeming to radiate off her.

He had been slightly surprised when the tip of her wand began to glow with a strange milky white light as she continued to aim it at him. He noted that she meant him no real harm but remained determined to stay her current course of actions.

"Do you know what this is?" asked Hermione.

"A-An honesty charm." replied Snape reading her mind.

Hermione nodded.

"It is indeed an honesty charm." she said bluntly. "Sadly it is required given your Slytherin nature."

This time it was Snape that lowered his eyes at her.

"You truly believe it will have an effect?" he asked in a somewhat smug fashion.

"I'm counting on it." replied a determined Hermione.

Before Snape could say anything more, she simply tapped her wand to his forehead.

 _"Concesseris honestus."_ she said looking back down at him.

The soft milky white glow of the spell seemed to radiate off him as his furious obsidian eyes became fixated upon his former wife as she continued to straddle his chest determined to find the truth about his antics given the final year of their marriage.

"You must enjoy pissing me off." said Severus glaring rather murderously at her as he struggled against the magical binds that held his limbs.

"And you must enjoy being a unconscionable rat bastard." she replied bitterly.

"What do you want from me?" asked Severus angrily.

"How about the truth for starters." replied Hermione narrowing her amber eyes at him. "Why did you do all of this?...why did you betray my trust during our marriage?"

"It's what I do best in case you've forgotten." replied Snape just as bitterly. "I never asked you to become my wife...I wasn't given a choice...just more affirmed responsibility."

"So you've said on more than one occasion." replied Hermione unphased. "Why did you sleep with those whores?"

"Because I wanted you." replied Snape without hesitation.

The obsidian eyes of the Potions Master narrowed and he began to struggle harder against the binds that held him.

Hermione smirked noting the spell she created had a definite effect on her former husband.

"Why did you take that potion?" she asked seeing her chance for absolute truth from him.

"Because I didn't want to go through the loss of another child." replied Snape bitterly resigning himself to baring his soul to her by force. "Nor you."

Hermione had been taken aback by the honesty he had been forced to impart.

"What was so bad about being married to me that you, wished to be as far a way from me as possible?" she asked.

"Nothing." he replied. "I simply recalled the terms of our marriage for what they were also fucking you was getting to be addictive."

Hermione's eyes widened at the use of his vulgar wording. She only ever heard him speak with such foul language when he had been drunk.

"Does this please you?" he asked seeming to peer into her very soul. "Having me here at your mercy...bound to the bed with you wielding all the power?"

"Stay on topic Severus." said Hermione attempting to ignore his antics. "Did you ever want a baby in the first place?"

"Yes!" replied Snape still struggling against the binds. "I'd give you one right now if you'd only unbind me."

Hermione sighed.

His feelings as far as within a physical sense had not been the problem.

"Did you ever love me?" she asked in a serious tone.

Snape seemed to be struggling to keep the answer from being spoken. It had been the sole point of keeping her away from him.

"Yes." he replied against his own wishes. "I never stopped loving you...I push you away because of it...if just one of them could get close enough to cause you to miscarry then it would be less than a second before they could get close enough to inflict permanent harm..."

Hermione couldn't believe it.

"Y-You were afraid." she said studying him for a moment. "Severus."

She lowered her wand and stroked his sallow pale cheek.

He had been decidedly bitter despite his admissions given they were retrieved by force.

"I don't deserve you." he muttered. "And you don't deserve being saddled with me for the rest of your life."

"That's not your choice to make." replied Hermione looking down at him. "Despite what you may like to believe Severus Snape, I am no longer a child that needs you to see to my well being...I am perfectly capable of making my own decisions and if that decision is to put up with a sodding drunken, lying, manipulative, git for the rest of my life that is what I intend to do."

Before Snape could offer a notion of protest, Hermione pressed her soft pink lips into his pale ones.

Despite himself, Severus returned her kiss. There was no point in fighting it now. He wanted her and she knew it better than anyone by this point. He didn't know what the future had in store for the two of them but he made up his mind right then and there that if something did happen, he would ensure that his enemies took him first before he had to endure a single second without her.


	13. Chapter 12:Of Moths and Flames

_**Chapter 12: Of Moths and Flames**_

 _ **{A/N: Here's Another update...}**_

 _ **My Thanks To All My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S.**_

 _ **Warning: Mature Content Ahead...**_

 _ **{"**_ _ **Well I'm hating, all of this...**_ _ **I'm hating, all of this...**_ _ **All of this, all of this...**_ _ **Now I know why, I hide my love from you some days...**_ _ **No I don't mind keeping this bottled inside me...**_ _ **You came along, and tore this world out around me...**_ _ **Looks like you found me...**_ _ **Now I know why...**_ _ **I felt like shit when I woke up this morning...**_ _ **I've been a loser all my life, I'm not about to change...**_ _ **If you don't like, there's the door, nobody made you stay...**_ _ **There ain't a woman on the planet who can deal with it...**_ _ **Just how I wanted it, I'm hating all of this...** **"}Woke Up This Morning, Nickelback**_

 _Spare Bedroom, The Potter Residence, Wizarding World..._

 **T** he magical binds that held the limbs of Severus Snape as he stared into the tear filled amber eyes of his former wife had been lifted. The truth had been out and there was no point in keeping him bound. Hermione had no idea how Severus was going to react to her forced interrogation. His obsidian eyes still glowing with the effects of the charm she created. Moving ever so slowly, Hermione attempted to get to her feet and leave the angry wizard behind only to find he had grabbed her effectively keeping the young witch straddled onto his lean form.

"S-Severus." she began.

"Are you pleased now?" he said as fury blazed behind his cold obsidian gaze. "You got what you wanted."

"No." she replied bitterly. "I am not pleased that I had to force you to admit your feelings for me."

"You have no idea what you've just done." he replied.

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione confused.

"Months of planning undone in an instant...if my enemies get wind of my...weakness for you..." he began bitterly.

"Weakness?" replied Hermione suddenly angry. "You think loving me is a weakness."

"Yes." replied Snape without hesitation. "You are my weakness...and the sooner my enemies find this out there will be consequences."

"I am not a weakness Severus." she replied.

Snape sighed.

It was clear that she'd never understand.

Hermione had been hurt given that she knew Severus truly felt this way about their relationship. He had been mean and spiteful in a bid to protect her, that much she knew but to see their love as a weakness...it was just as upsetting.

She attempted to get as far away from him as possible.

Snape got to his feet and slammed the door closed before she could get out of it. Her amber eyes had been filled with rage and the hurt that he had caused her evident on her face.

"This is a weakness." he said as bluntly as he had while under the influence of her spell.

Before Hermione could say anything more, Snape had scooped her into his arms and crashed his pale lips into her soft pink ones. She attempted to resist only to find that she didn't have the will to do so. It had been months since she had been this close to him and the end of their marriage had only made her longing for him worse despite her best efforts to forget him.

The Potions Master carried his former wife over toward the bed seeing only her and their need for intimacy despite his insistence that what was between them had been born of weakness, his weakness and her naive innocence. It had always been what drew them in like a moth to a flame, but she had been far too optimistic to not that she had been the moth and he the ever burning flame of destruction for all that dared profess to love him.

Severus Snape had been as he always had, empty and calculating and Hermione in true trusting fashion served up her heart on silver platter for him once more.

With a wave of his hand, their clothes had vanished and only the mutual heat from their bodies combated the draft in the room.

"You will regret pursuing this." Snape said in warning before Hermione silenced him with a passionate kiss of her own.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

 _The Sitting Room, The Potter Residence, Wizarding World..._

A very pregnant Ginny Weasley found herself smiling as she sat knitting a small sweater for her future child growing in her belly. It seemed that her former Potions Professor and her best friend had forgotten to use a silencing charm before celebrating their apparent reconciliation. The red head witch continued to smile as she proceeded with her task.

Harry had come in from the floo in search of something good for lunch only to be deeply disturbed by the noise coming from the spare bedroom.

"I-Is that Hermione?" he asked nervously.

"And Snape." replied Ginny rather amused at the nauseated look on her wizarding hero husband's face.

"I-I change my mind." he said quickly. "I-I believe I'll skip lunch this afternoon, I don't believe I can hold it down any way."

Ginny laughed as Harry quickly cast a silencing charm and scrambled into the floo once more.

"See you later love." he said before disappearing amid emerald green flames.

The expecting witch shook her head noting her husband's rather adorable boyish behavior and continued with her knitting.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

 _Spare Bedroom, The Potter Residence, Wizarding World..._

Hermione Granger gripped Severus Snape's waist as her former Potions Professor and husband towered above her. He had been just as naked as she had been beneath the thin white sheet, still crisp from it's washing and subsequent drying that afternoon. The shaking of the mattress as a result of their very physical act had been proceeded by the rushed pleasure seeking of their bodies coming in contact with one another after months of separation.

Snape let out a low growl noting the feel of his very familiar ex-wife as he began to lose himself in the wake of his own physical desire for her. Hermione had been more inclined to do the same had her nagging questions not plagued her mind during the act. She opened her eyes despite the intense emotions her former husband was sending rippling through her youthful body with his seemingly frenzied lovemaking.

"How many whores have you lied with Severus?" she asked unable to suppress the need to have her question answered.

The Potions Master groaned having to concentrate on her words when his body was more than willing to continue with their current business uninterrupted but he knew she'd never let him reach the completion of their act until her curiosity had been sated.

"A few." he replied quickly still thrusting as he attempted to gather his thoughts for the much needed information.

"Define a few." said Hermione meeting his rather spirited gaze.

"I really had no interest in them." replied Snape looking down at his utterly quizzical former wife. "For Merlin's sake...this is not the appropriate time for rapid fire questions."

Hermione narrowed her amber eyes at her former husband and current lover.

"Severus..." she began.

Sensing there would be no pleasant outcome through avoidance, Snape decided to tell her whatever was required to complete his task.

"Two." he replied. "Only two and I was blind drunk and thinking about you the entire time...sadly it's the only way I could...perform so to speak."

"What else are you not telling me?" she asked with a serious expression filed across her face.

"Fuck..." muttered Snape thrusting in desperation. "Hermione...please..."

"You are mine Severus Snape." said Hermione meeting his desperate gaze. "No more running."

"Fine." he muttered annoyed. "No more running."

They shared another kiss inflamed by their mutual passions and continued their desperate lovemaking.


	14. Chapter 13:The Ramifications Of An Impa

_**Chapter 13: The Ramifications Of An**_ ** _Impasse_**

 _ **{A/N: Here's Another update...thought the song was fitting given the situation...}**_

 _ **My Thanks To All My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S.**_

 ** _{"_** _ **Don't...**_ _ **Don't you wish we tried...**_ _ **Do you feel what I feel inside...**_ _ **You know our love is stronger than pride. Oh..**_ _ **No don't...**_ _ **Don't let your anger grow...**_ _ **Just tell me what you need me to know...**_ _ **Please talk to me, don't close the door...**_ _ **Hmmm, 'cause I want to hear you...**_ _ **I want to be near you...**_ _ **Don't fight, don't argue...**_ _ **Give me the chance to say that I'm sorry...**_ _ **Just let me love you...**_ _ **Don't turn me away...**_ _ **Don't tell me to go...**_ ** _"}Don't, Shania Twain_**

 _The Spare Bedroom, The Potter Residence, Wizarding World..._

Morning arrived and Hermione awoke to find herself in bed alone. Feeling the absence of her former husband, the worried witch opened her eyes noting the lean pale figure barely masked by the semi-darkness of the early hours of the morning. He was staring out the window as per the usual when he was in a foul mood and given that she had tricked him into admitting his feeling for her as well as having that lead to their tryst, She had no doubt in her mind that he had been upset. With a sigh of relief that he had not gone back out into the cold, Hermione climbed out of bed noting just how cold the morning chill had been as she moved toward the temperamental wizard.

"You have some fucking nerve." growled Snape with his arms folded across his pale chest.

Hermione stopped in her tracks only a few feet away from the naked angry wizard.

"I knew you would never have admitted the truth on your own." she said. "And I so desperately wanted to hear it."

Snape turned to face her with rage burning behind his obsidian eyes.

"You had no fucking right." he hissed.

"Like you didn't have the right to abandon me after what happened to our child." countered Hermione narrowing her amber eyes at her former husband.

"You have no idea what the fuck you are talking about." he replied.

"Don't I?" asked the now angry witch. "As if I do not recall you admitting you were taking a potion to ensure we never had children."

Snape rolled his eyes.

"The doctors thought it unwise for you to attempt such a sentimental and idiotic thing as to get pregnant again." he said in his own defense.

"Don't you dare hide behind the doctors." said Hermione letting her fury get the better of her. "You never wanted another child and you know it Severus."

"Is that suppose to be a secret?" he asked with an arched brow. "I didn't even want the fucking first one...I never had a choice in wither or not I wanted to be fucking married to you either but why should that concern you?"

"Severus...I love you doesn't that count for something?" she asked not really wishing to get into a full on row with him.

"Apparently not." he replied.

"Liar." she replied bitterly.

She approached him letting the sheet that draped over her own naked body fall to the floor as she pressed her slender frame into his lean body.

"Why are you doing this?" asked Snape almost if it had been painstaking.

"Because I love you." she replied stroking his exposed and heavily scared chest. "I've always loved you."

He knew it was futile to continue this resistance approach, she had broken his defenses the moment he found himself back between her slender thighs. This time had been no different as he lifted her off the floor and carried her back to bed. This time his actions were not propelled by her damned charm spell. This time, he had given in at least in some small measure to the need to be with his former wife.

His pale lips crushed against her soft pink ones.

Hermione let out a soft moan as Snape slipped back between her thighs and she wrapped her legs around him holding him tightly as he smirked down at her. His lengthy raven hair had been curtained around their joined faces while her unruly brown curls gave the appearance of a lion's mane as she allowed him to devour her lips in their heated kiss.

"I've missed you so much." she said as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"I've missed you too." he replied honest with her for the first time since their divorce.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

 _The Kitchen, The Potter Residence, Wizarding World..._

Harry James Potter had been shaking his head noting for a second time that Snape and Hermione had forgotten to use a silencing charm. The beating of the headboard against a nearby wall was a good indication that things were progressing rather quickly for his best friend and her former husband. The young Auror and soon to be father sipped his morning coffee with a smile on his face.

Perhaps Snape could be saved after all.

Ginny had been sitting at the breakfast table with a smile on her face as well noting the tell tale sounds coming from the spare bedroom.

"I suppose we'll have to replace the bed once the baby comes." said Harry with a smirk.

Ginny giggled and continued to finish off a piece of toast.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

 _The Kitchen, The Potter Residence, Wizarding World..._

Hours after their second rather frantic coupling, Snape and Hermione had come down for breakfast meeting a smiling Ginny as she proceeded to continue her knitting for the baby's arrival. Hermione made her former husband and current lover a plate as he sat down to the table. He poured a cup of coffee and awaited the food that had been prepared early on. It was strange seeing the normally cold Potions Master sitting in the kitchen. He had said very little as he sipped the black coffee from the mug and looked as if he hardly wished to eat.

Ginny could tell that his having breakfast had been due to Hermione's insistence.

"Good afternoon." she said making small talk.

"Good afternoon Mrs. Potter." said Snape before turning back to his coffee.

"Good afternoon Ginny." said Hermione with a smile.

"You two have come to some sort of agreement I take it." said the red head witch smiling back.

"As a matter of fact we have." replied Hermione setting her plate down at the table after handing Snape his. "As of today we are returning home."

"Really?" asked Ginny with an arched brow.

"Severus is more comfortable at Spinner's End and to tell you the truth I miss it as well." said Hermione biting into a piece of toast.

Snape remained silent drinking his coffee and awaiting the moment he would be Potter free once more.

"Have you spoken to Harry?" asked Ginny.

"When he returns I will inform him what I intend to do." replied the amber eyed witch.

"Well, I wish you both luck." said the red head Mrs. Harry Potter.

"Thank you Ginny." said Hermione pleased. "By the looks of things we'll need it."

Snape continued to ignore the women and finished cleaning his plate so to speak. He had not eaten in days and although it seemed like months given his tendency to drink.

It had been settled it seemed.

They both would be heading back to Spinner's End following a short audience with Harry Potter. The former Potions Professor could not have been more pleased to hear idle chatter in all of his miserable existence.


	15. Chapter 14:The Unseen Aspects Of A Wear

**_Chapter 14: The Unseen Aspects Of A Weary Heart_**

 ** _{A/N: Here's Another update...}_**

 ** _My Thanks To All My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S._**

 _The Spare Bedroom, The Potter Residence, Wizarding World..._

 ** _S_** everus Snape had not said a word as he sat on the bed glaring out the window of the spare bedroom. Hermione had wished he'd do something more constructive but considering his mood as of late, it wasn't going to be. He still harbored some anger about his current situation of being bound to Harry Potter's house. He had suffered enough humiliation with Hermione forcing his hand in admitting his feelings for her, and the urge to have a drink was becoming unbearable. The memories of what happened the first time they were together had haunted him as they would for years to come despite what the witch believed, seeing her in a pool of her own blood and barely breathing had shaken him to his core.

He had not planned to fall in love with her.

He was simply doing his duty as a Dumbledore's spy.

The old sod forced the marriage on him and he had no choice but to take her as his wife in a bid to keep her from falling into the hands of another death eater.

The door to the bedroom opened and Hermione had come in once more.

Her amber eyes had been filled with a mix of sadness and contentment. She had been pleased that Severus had apparently come to his senses as far as their relationship had been concerned but she knew there was going to be an uphill battle to fix him given how far he had fallen in the wake of their child's loss. The constant drinking and bedding of whores was a clear sign that he no longer cared wither he lived or died. Surviving the second wizarding war and Azkaban were nothing compared to the inner turmoil that lurked within the complicated wizard.

"Have you eaten?" she asked breaking the silence that lingered between them.

Snape shook his head not seeing any point in arguing with his ex-wife any longer.

She sighed knowing his stubborn personality was still something of a road block when it came to their in-depth reconciliation.

"You need to eat Severus." she said. "I'll bring something up for you, but I won't have you starving yourself to get back at me."

The former Potions Professor said nothing as he turned his attention back to the window on the far side of the room. He couldn't wait until they were back at Spinner's End, of course the place had not been nearly as nice as this one.

Hermione had turned to exit the room when Snape suddenly got up from the bed and pulled her back toward him.

She sighed feeling the tension in his body seeming to envelope her own as he held her against him.

"Severus." she said softly.

"I need you." he said softly, struggling with his own brazen nature.

The young witch turned to face him stroking his sorrowful sallow pale face in the process.

A split second of mutual longing before the former Potions Professor scooped his ex-wife into his arms and carried her over toward the bed. The exchange of passionate kisses seemed to intensify the need for the two of them to get closer in the wake of their renewed understanding.

"Severus..." said Hermione breathlessly as her ex-husband climbed onto the bed intent on bedding her.

He kissed along the exposed flesh of her neck making it clear that he had every intention of showing her just how much he needed her.

"Hermione." he said slipping between her thighs without taking his eyes off her.

It wasn't long before she felt the sensation of her body joining with that of her ex-husband's and a groan escaped the two of them. Snape didn't stop looking into the amber eyes of the witch that had consumed his every thought from the moment he had been set to marry her.

"Oh..." moaned Hermione losing herself in the pleasure this rather difficult and embittered wizard had been capable of giving her.

He let out a low grunt in the wake of his own antics.

He could see nothing but Hermione as his body began to move on it's own seeking the release it had long been denied in the wake of their divorce. She did things to him that could hardly be described in words as he glared rather helplessly into the mesmerizing amber orbs she called eyes losing himself in their strange hold over him.

Hermione had been pregnant before in the wake of his unchecked passion for her and it stood to reason that he was attempting to make it so again.

The passion filled witch let her hands roam along his exposed pale back as she found herself losing conscious thought in the wake of their act. Flashes of memories from their time together before this moment had taken place came flooding back. The agony and the understated sorrow of having lost their child had nearly destroyed the two of them. The divorce in the wake of the new act had not made anything better in terms of how they were handling their recent bout of heartbreak.

Severus had become more reserved and kept to himself in the wake of the loss, now in hind sight, she knew he had done so in a bid to free her from their relationship.

The former Potions Professor crushed his pale lips into that of his ex-wife's as she continued to cling to him in the wake of his increasing thrusts.

"Hermione." he whispered kissing along her neck and ear in the process of making love to her for the first time in a long time.

She had not recalled the exact moment when she had fallen for Severus Snape, he had been nothing but cold and clinical throughout the beginning of their marriage and appeared to show little interest in her even after surviving the second wizarding war. Yet, she had been unable to bring herself to enjoy being separated from him in the wake of their divorce. Even when he had been imprisoned, she had longed for him and anxiously awaited his return once his sentence was complete.

It had amazed her how much interest he had in her in the wake of his return, they had even begun to embark on attempting to acknowledge their new and sudden romance once he had come through those doors. The frequent dates and love making sessions resulted in the pregnancy that had been everything Hermione had ever wanted.

 _Until the attack happened._

Snape found himself more and more preoccupied with pleasing her body in the wake of her thoughts and it had been difficult to see any of the horrible images of their past as a result of it. The sorrow heavy couple had been well contented seeing to their need for each other despite the vast amount of distance that had been between them on the surface, their emotional connection proved to have been able to withstand even their worst elements in terms of dysfunction.


	16. Chapter 15:A Silent Promise

**_Chapter 15: A Silent Promise_**

 ** _{A/N: Here's Another update...I've been feeling a little better since the cold's onset so I decided to try my hand at writing again...}_**

 ** _My Thanks To All My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S._**

 _The Spare Bedroom, The Potter Residence, Wizarding World..._

 ** _G_** iven to exhaustion and blasted with more than their fair share of sweat, both Snape and Hermione had been left panting and entangled in the wake of their coupling. There had been a great deal of emotion between the two of them mostly due to a lack of resolving issues within their marriage before the divorce and now it only seemed to be weighing them down in the form of an impregnable silence. Snape rested his head on the belly of his ex-wife as the painful memories of her former pregnancy came back to him. He had not wanted to fall for her as he did but it happened within a blink of an eye. The arranged marriage meant to keep her safe from the death eaters and the dark lord's intent became a liability for her in the world following the war's end. The ultimate punishment for her loyalty to a man she should never have given her love to, was to lose her child and nearly her own life in the wake of a cowardly attack from an ambitious group enraged by the dour wizard being set free following his so called crimes during his reign as Headmaster of Hogwarts.

"Severus." said Hermione at last breaking the silence as her own thoughts returned to that of her deceased child.

The Potions Master hesitated to meet her eyes knowing all too well that she would be crying.

"I miss our baby." she said. "And I know...you didn't want to be a father and I'm still angry that you made sure that I couldn't get pregnant again while we were married...but...you never once grieved for the baby."

Snape pulled away from her lying on his back on the side of the bed. He had been loathed to speak of this, his feelings about this subject had never been more clear before hand but she was searching for common grief, An understandable desire if ever there was one.

"Why are you so intent on bringing up ancient history?" he asked sounding a bit embittered.

Hermione recognized that she was pushing a bit too hard and that he'd likely act out to keep her at a distance. He had only renewed his sexual interest in her due to her antics with her truth charm, now he had been closely guarding his pain with a blazing rage that she wasn't in the mood to combat.

"Alright." she said seeing the error of her ways. "I won't push..."

"Thank Merlin for small favors." muttered Snape turning his back to her.

"You still need to eat." she said.

"I'm more exhausted than hungry." he muttered still not looking at her.

Hermione sighed.

He was most definitely a stubborn bloke.

"That's fine." she said feeling a bit exhausted herself. "But when you awaken you will have something to eat wither you like it or not."

Although she couldn't see it, Snape rolled his eyes in annoyance at her implication that he'd be at her mercy. What he wanted was a drink and possibly more if he could manage to get back to his house and get a bottle. His hands were trembling in the wake of being without one for so long. It had been worse than when he was sentenced to Azkaban. He didn't feel the need to let her know about his apparent weakness in the wake of their divorce. Three months he had been free to do as he pleased without those annoyingly understanding amber eyes glaring at him in quiet fury over his numerous mistakes.

Now here he was ensnared within the mesh of her love again and it only served to annoy him further.

Hermione sighed once more unsure what to make of her ex-husband. She had loved the wizard dearly, and desired him above all others but he was quite trying in terms of her patience.

Still something of a smile filed across her weary face as she recalled their recent coupling. It had not been quite so easy for him to escape her as he initially believed and the result of them falling back into the common routine of being together had been all the indication that she needed.

Snape had fallen asleep before she had leaving her time to look him over. He had quite a few new scars to add to the old ones she had often counted and caressed while he slept for it would have been near on impossible to ever get close enough to physically touch them when he had been awake. His shame at having earned them was far too much for him to deal with at the time.

"Severus." said the concerned witch as she continued to run her soft warm fingers along the new pain inflicted marks along his pale flesh.

She hated seeing him in pain, even when he tries to act as if he deserves it. It had taken her exactly one night of being married to the seemingly impossible wizard to note that he spoke to people the way he did because he knew no matter what he did, they would always hate him. With the freedom to not care for anyone's opinion due to their's not changing about you in the slightest, Snape easily earned the abuses they were already going to give him.

Shaking her head, Hermione curled her body closer to his and attempted to drift off to sleep trying to get passed how deeply wounded the poor wizard must have been for the three months she had been out of his life.

"I'll never leave you again." she softly vowed, then noted the swirling of magical energy as she found herself once more bound to her former husband via magical oath.

If Snape had been affected by the binding magic, he showed no signs of it grunting in his sleep as if to mock her words.

Hermione drifted off with the familiar warmth of Severus Snape's lean form against her own body and the lingering effect of their love-making making her feel every bit as loved and wanted as she wished to have been since The Potions Master's arrival at the Potter residence.


	17. Chapter 16:Small Talk On A Dim Night

**_Chapter 16: Small Talk On A Dim Night_**

 ** _{A/N: Here's Another update...}_**

 ** _My Thanks To All My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S._**

 ** _{"If you're not the one for me..._** _ **Then how come I can bring you to your knees...**_ _ **If you're not the one for me...**_ _ **Why do I hate the idea of being free?...**_ _ **And if I'm not the one for you...**_ _ **You've gotta stop holding me the way you do...**_ _ **Oh honey if I'm not the one for you...**_ _ **Why have we been through what we have been through...**_ _ **It's so cold out here in your wilderness...**_ _ **I want you to be my keeper...**_ _ **But not if you are so reckless...**_ _ **If you're gonna let me down, let me down gently...**_ _ **Don't pretend that you don't want me...**_ _ **Our love ain't water under the bridge...**_ _ **If you're gonna let me down, let me down gently...**_ _ **Don't pretend that you don't want me...**_ _ **Our love ain't water under the bridge...**_ _ **Say that our love ain't water under the bridge...**_ _ **What are you waiting for?...**_ _ **You never seem to make it through the door...**_ _ **And who are you hiding from?...**_ _ **It ain't no life to live like you're on the run...**_ _ **Have I ever asked for much?...**_ _ **The only thing that I want is your love...**_ _ **If you're gonna let me down, let me down gently...**_ _ **Don't pretend that you don't want me...**_ _ **Our love ain't water under the bridge...**_ _ **If you're gonna let me down, let me down gently...**_ _ **Don't pretend that you don't want me...**_ _ **Our love ain't water under the bridge...**_ ** _Say that our love ain't water under the bridge..."} Water Under The Bridge, Adele_**

 _The Spare Bedroom, The Potter Residence, Wizarding World..._

 ** _T_** he amber eyes of Hermione Granger opened and she found self searching the semi-darkened room for her ex-husband. He wasn't in the bed beside her when she awoke but she caught a glimpse of him standing beside the window looking out over the burrows. It wouldn't be long before they were back in their own home, although she couldn't imagine what he might have done to it in the three months of their separation. Slipping out from beneath the covers, Hermione made her way toward him wrapping her arms around his waist and leaning against him. The scent of herbs and fresh earth still lingered from him although she suspected it would always be so given whom he had been and took comfort in the fact that he had been here in the flesh as opposed to her vivid and pain filled memories.

He made no attempt to pull away from her, despite also making no effort to acknowledge her presence in any affectionate sense.

"Severus." said Hermione pulling back from him slowly.

"What is it that you want witch?" he asked in an emotionless tone.

Hermione sighed, she had a lot of work to do in terms of breaking down his mental walls once more but she was more then willing to take up the task.

"Stubborn git." she said. "Like it or not, you are eating something today."

Snape made no show of disagreeing with her.

The concerned witch moved to make her way toward the door when she suddenly felt herself be pulled toward him and his arms wrap around her naked body in an attempt to keep her close. She supposed the battle wouldn't be as difficult as it had been the first day she married the irritable git but she knew there was a good deal different about him now.

Soft delicate fingers ran along the scarred flesh of his chest and he allowed it.

"I've missed this." she said making conversation.

"You make quite an impression." he said finally breaking his silence for the first time.

"And you are often as silent as stars." said Hermione leaning against him once more.

Snape continued to look out the window over the burrows. There was something to be said about the vast darkness that surrounded the Potter and Weasley residences.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked once more cutting in the silence that filled the room.

Snape seemed to be half listening as he turned his attention to the warm witch that had merely wanted to be closer to him.

"Time." he replied giving a vague reply.

Knowing she wasn't going to get much out of him, she decided once more that it wouldn't do to push him. She removed her arms from around him and made her way back toward the bed gathering up her scattered attire and moved toward the bedroom door.

It was quite late in the day, but she was in dire need of something to eat and knew all too well that he would be hungry. Wither he'd admit it or not, she knew he hadn't eaten very much the previous morning and sought to resolve that.

Snape continued to stare out the window noting the darkness that made it difficult to see the tall golden grass that surrounded the burrows. He had no interest in keeping up conversation with anyone so long as he had been trapped in this place. It grated on his nerves being trapped in the Potter residence, he had been in dire need of a drink and the lack of personal privacy was unnerving.

Hermione had been determined to keep herself affiliated with him despite all that had happened in the wake of their marriage. He didn't know wither this made her foolish or loyal to a fault in his case. Either way, he had been moderately grateful for her love despite his outward demeanor. He had never known anyone to show him such devotion and decided that he could at least attempt to give her what she so desperately wanted from him.

"I...wonder what Potter has in the kitchen." he said breaking his silence.

Hermione smiled noting the small step he had just taken. It was still a long way off but it was better than hearing him speak in cruel regard for her. The hopeful witch took him by the hand and quickly spelled on appropriate attire for the both of them before leading him out of the bed room and down toward the supposedly empty kitchen.

She had hoped that Harry had at least been sleeping, it was difficult enough getting Severus to open up on her own but having Harry around would surely set him back. It was one of the reasons she was pushing for their return to Spinner's End.


	18. Chapter 17:Dinner And Prodding

**_Chapter 17: Dinner And Prodding_**

 ** _{A/N: Here's Another update...}_**

 ** _My Thanks To All My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S._**

 _The Kitchen, The Potter Residence, Wizarding World..._

 ** _A_** s Hermione had hoped, Harry and Ginny had already gone to bed leaving just herself and Severus to rummage the kitchen for something to eat in the late night hours. There had been more silence between them as the determined witch moved along the kitchen attempting to come up with something to quell their mutual hunger. Eyes of sorrowful obsidian watched as the young witch appeared to be running herself ragged in a bid to please him. He could tell she had been under a good deal of pressure, although he had not meant to place it upon her. She chopped fresh ingredients moving about the cutting board along the counter-top as if she had been prepping for the brewing of a potion back at Hogwarts.

Snape couldn't help but smile at the glimpse of the bushy haired girl trying her hardest to impress him still lurking inside the woman whom had been through more hardship in the last few years of her school term at Hogwarts than she should have ever had to face in her lifetime.

"You are persistent." said Snape looking her over as she diced onions and chopped tomatoes.

Hermione looked up at him paused in her chopping to meet his surprisingly amused gaze.

"Did you expect anything less?" she asked.

Snape moved toward her wrapping his arms around her waist as she stood near the counter. She smiled feeling the warmth from his initially cold embrace.

"You never cease to be an insufferable know it all." he said kissing along her neck and taking in the jasmine scent of her hair.

"And you wouldn't have it any other way." she replied joying the closeness for once.

The two of them still had a long way to go to get back to where they began but it seemed much easier to get along with him than it had been the first time despite the amount of betrayal. She knew what he had been attempting, the shock of her nearly being killed due to her association with him had pushed him to seek an alternative to their relationship in the wake of their child's loss.

Snape moved his hands from her waist and down to her wrists as she continued to chop the ingredients. He moved along with her, giving her skills the much needed refinement they lacked as she continued to work. It had been a lot of trouble to go through for the sake of making a simple sandwich, but the former Potions Master supposed she had merely wanted to impress him.

It made him smirk once more to recall her lack of prowess in the kitchen during their marriage and after several failed attempts to make him a reasonable dinner on the muggle stove so far from the comforts of Hogwarts and it's elven powered kitchen, he had taken over making the meals for the sake of both their pallets.

"You've improved." he said as if he were working hard to find a reasonable compliment.

Hermione smiled at the effort.

It seemed her words had gotten through his thick skull and the added bonus of reminding him just how passionate they were together further tipped the scales in her favor when it came to his doubts about their relationship.

The young witch could not imagine her life without him, knowing all too well what he'd become without her had also made her decision to pursue this that much easier.

With quick movements, they had their respective sandwiches had been done and they made their way over toward the kitchen table. Snape had been on his best behavior it seemed despite having his eyes move toward the window a time or two looking out into the crisp cold night.

"You look tired." said Hermione observing him as they ate in silence.

"So do you." he replied taking a bite of his sandwich and causing the witch to let out a sigh of relief she had never known she had been holding.

Her amber eyes fell upon his trembling pale hands and she noted that it was due to the lack of firewhiskey being introduced to his already shocked system.

Snape noticed her observing him and rolled his eyes. Although, he had appeared annoyed at her silent critiquing of his lack of care for himself over the passed few months, he knew all too well that she was working on some way to get him off the bottle for good.

"No." he said narrowing his obsidian eyes at her.

Hermione arched an eyebrow at him for a moment then recalled his absolutely unwelcome ability to enter her mind without invitation.

"We agreed you weren't going to do that." she said.

"That agreement was for the duration of our marriage." replied Snape biting into his sandwich once more and glaring at his ex-wife. "You said nothing about using that ability while we are divorced."

"You are such a git." muttered Hermione.

Snape seemed pleased that she recalled this much about him, he had been afraid their separation sparked much too many romanticized memories.

"And yet you persist in wanting to pursue a relationship with me." he said. "What does that say about you?"

Hermione sighed.

"I must be insane." she agreed. "But there is no way you are backing out now."

"I wouldn't dream of it." he replied turning his attention back to his sandwich.

Knowing she wasn't going to get any further, Hermione turned her attention to her own sandwich, which had remained uneaten at this point.

A few rounds of silent eating and stewing in their own thoughts until their collective meals had been finished, Snape knew all too well that the rather persistent witch would find something to mention that annoyed him to no end but he kept his composure.

"D-Do you ever think about him?" she asked.

Snape sighed noting her train of thought before he wished to.

"Hermione." he said warning her off speaking of such an interpersonal topic at the Potter's house no less.

"It's an honest question Severus." replied Hermione not at all relenting. "You could at least answer given what you put me through."

Snape balled his fist and slammed it onto the table. It was a well used intimidation tactic that became more or less a secondary warning as a result of her prodding.

"Severus." she said not at all deterred.

"What do you want from me witch." he growled not wishing to discuss this.

"An honest answer." she replied meeting his harsh gaze without fear as silent tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Fine." he replied through clinched teeth. "Yes...are you pleased now bringing up ancient history...would you like to shout my second greatest failure to the rooftops or shall I...perhaps we can get Potter in here and he can fawn over you in the wake of my shame."

"That's not why I asked you Severus." said Hermione.

"Isn't it?" asked Snape rather bitterly as he got up from the table not even bothering to clear his dish.

He headed toward the front door without a second glance in the seated witch's direction.

She knew it was a stretch to push him on this before he had been ready, but she had to know...of all the things he had done that had brought their relationship to an end long before the paperwork had been completed, she had not wanted to believe that he had truly rejected his own child in the wake of their loss.

The silent witch cleared the table and went after the moody wizard in a bid to keep him from catching his death out in the elements just to avoid her.


	19. Chapter 18:Verbal Friction

**_Chapter 18: Verbal Friction_**

 ** _{A/N: Here's Another update...R.I.P. to my dear friend Ricky Mitchell...Such a swift death for a fascinating man you will be missed.}_**

 ** _My Thanks To All My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S._**

 _The Burrows, The Potter Residence, Wizarding World..._

 **H** igh winds blew across the open grass field the darkness of the night had been such that it was difficult for the questing witch to see her hand in front of her face. It did little to stop her from chasing after the stubborn wizard. Hermione had not been out in the cold for long before she noted the familiar dark figure amid the tall grasses. As she moved toward him, she noted the sudden onset of swirling clouds giving the impression that the cold winds were only a secondary precursor for what was to be quite the storm brewing on the horizon. The storm surrounding them had not been as impressive as the swirling storm inside the former Potions Professor as he stood amid the cold air warring with his inner most emotions in the wake of their unwanted conversation.

"Severus." said Hermione not at all willing to give an inch in this exchange.

"Leave me alone." replied the embittered wizard in a cold tone.

"No." replied the amber eyed witch moving to face him. "There's no more running from this."

"I am well aware of my compounded failures." he replied bitterly. "Why would I need to be reminded of them?"

"Severus...he was our son." said Hermione unsure how she could get him to understand that grieving was more or less apart of life. "Shutting me out and pretending that what happened between us never happened isn't going to change things."

"Don't you think I know that?" hissed Snape narrowing his eyes at the audacious young witch. "You speak to me as if I haven't lived grief a single day in my life."

"That's not what I was saying." countered Hermione.

"It sure as hell sounds like it." replied the embittered Potions Master glaring back at his ex-wife.

"Severus instead of running to the nearest pub for a bottle of firewhiskey or laying with whores, all you had to do was talk to me." said Hermione expressing a bit of her own bitterness.

"What would have been the point?" he asked. "My obligation to you was fulfilled."

"Our marriage was more than an obligation and you know it." replied the amber eyed witch.

"You see what you want to see." replied Snape.

"I see a stubborn idiot that thinks he can bluff his way out of admitting that he loves me when I already know the truth." said Hermione.

"And I see a foolish girl that insists on romanticizing something that was never meant to be anymore than what it was." he said.

"Liar." she countered. "I saw the look on your face before they wheeled me back into that room at St. Mungos."

The brief flash of the distress that filed across the Potions Master's face had been such that he attempted to move away from her.

Hermione wasn't about to back down and followed him.

"What do you want from me witch." said Snape pulling away from her grasp. "What good is rehashing old wounds going to do for us in the here and now?"

"I want you to be honest with me Severus." said Hermione meaningfully. "Our child was killed by some spineless coward not you...you did everything you could to save us."

"And it still wasn't enough." replied Snape letting the solid walls he built around his heart crumble in the wake of her words.

Hermione brought her hand to his cheek.

"Severus...have you been carrying the weight of that around this entire time?" she asked softly.

"Hermione..." he began trying his best to bury his warring emotions.

Without a word Hermione threw her arms around him and he stood unsure what to do next.

"Severus...what happened to our child wasn't your fault and what happened to the Potters had nothing to do with you either." she said.

"How could you...?" he began.

She put a finger to his pale lips and shook her head.

"The bastard that attacked us is at fault for what happened to our son and he will get what he deserves." said Hermione with a flicker of something akin to malice behind her amber eyes. "The Potters were betrayed by Pettigrew and you've both more than made up for what happened to them during the war...there is no need for you to keep punishing yourself for them either."

"You are quite a stubborn witch." said Snape with something of a smirk filed across his face.

"And you are a stubborn wizard." she said unable to keep from smiling.

"What a pair we make." he replied.

He pulled her into his arms and held her close.

"What do you think about moving to Australia?" he asked.

"I believe a change of scenery would be good for us." she replied considering it. "But with your status as a former death eater could be afford to travel?"

"Who says we'll be leaving the conventional way?" asked Snape with a smirk. "There is more than the wizarding world you know."

"What about Paris?" asked Hermione with an arched brow.

"Why do I get the impression you have something of an agenda?" asked Snape with an arched brow of his own.

"Because I do." replied Hermione pulling him down into her kiss.

"You are becoming more Slytherin with each passing day Mrs. Snape." said The Potions Professor with a smirk.

"I learned from the best it seems." she replied.

Snape returned her kiss and continued to hold her.

"It seems I am a fortunate man after all." he said noting her appeal.

"Indeed." replied Hermione.

Snape kissed her once more than took her by the hand and lead her back into Harry Potter's house.


	20. Chapter 19:The Binds Of Re-Connection

**_Chapter 19: The Binds Of Re-Connection_**

 ** _{A/N: Here's Another update...R.I.P. R.G.}_**

 ** _My Thanks To All My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S._**

 _The Spare Bedroom, The Potter Residence, Wizarding World..._

 **C** risp morning air had filled the spare bedroom that had been the resting place for both Hermione and Severus Snape since their arrival at the Potter residence. The Potions Master had been lying on his side as the darkness of the night gave way to the sunless morning. Hermione had been curled up beside him pleased that he had once more found his way to her bed and she slept rather easily. Sleep had not been as easy for Snape as the traumas of the past continued to plague him even in his dreams. The Potions Master's body had been riddled with tension as he gripped the sheets as if clinging to something as if his very life depended upon it.

His lean pale form had been drenched in sweat and he seemed distressed.

It had been so much so that Hermione found herself awakening to the constant shaking as if Severus were trying to fight off something in his sleep. The sleepy witch was shocked to say the least to note that her ex-husband had tears streaming down his sallow pale cheeks despite there being no outward cause for such sadness. When they had gone to bed all had been well between them as far as she could tell but it was clearly another matter for him in the world of dreams.

"Severus." said Hermione as she softly nudged the fretful wizard.

He did not respond as the dream seemed to have a lasting hold on him.

"Severus please open your eyes." she said turning her full attention upon the stressed man. "You're having a night terror."

A thousand scenarios went through her mind, mostly of the war and his imprisonment in Azkaban. There were a great many situations that would have caused the long suffering wizard distress in his dreams that she simply had no way of determining.

Her only hope had been to reach him before he lost himself in them completely.

"Severus." she said softly stroking his sallow pale cheek and wiping away the silent tears. "Nothing you see is real...this is only a night terror...can you...can you hear my voice...or feel me next to you?"

Snape still didn't seem to be responding for quite a while.

The she suddenly heard him gasp as he lifted himself up off the bed.

"HERMIONE!" he shouted looking visibly shaken from whatever cruel ordeal his mind had him relieve from their past.

She had little time to respond before he pulled her into his arms and held her close to him.

"Severus." she said softly. "I'm here...everything is going to be alright."

"Hermione." he replied still holding onto her as of it had been for dear life.

It had not taken her long to realize his night terror had been about the attack and how they had lost their child.

"I'm sorry." he said.

His voice had been soft and almost inaudible. It had been such a stark contrast from the brooding and snippy wizard that she had found herself with since his arrival at Harry's house. She had never seen her ex-husband look so weak or vulnerable for that matter, not even in all the years they had been married.

Hermione realized that this frail man trembling as he held her close had been the true Severus Snape, what had been left of him in the wake of the wars and the further emotional torment he still suffered till the very day. She suddenly felt very angry at all those heartless people whom had reduced such a brilliant and engaging man to this state. He had not brewed a potion since that incident and kept himself away from anything remotely close to ambitious in nature. There were times when she'd noted his slow movements in the wake of having had his body beaten and broken so many times over the years.

His obsidian eyes that once flickered with something akin to passion had become cold and empty in the wake of what happened during the attack. It was as if he had finally given up. Like the loss of their child had been the final nail in the coffin of the man he would have been without the war or heartbreak that transformed him from the ambitious young wizard whom had altered his Potions book to the broken wizard drowning his sorrows in the nearest firewhiskey bottle.

"I'm so sorry." he said as the tears continued to stream down his sallow pale cheeks. "I-It's my fault."

Hermione closed her eyes noting her husband's suppressed sadness and feeling the dam bursting inside that held back her own.

"No Severus." she said amid tears of her own. "What happened to our son wasn't your fault."

"They were after me." he replied vulnerable in her presence for the first time since she could recall.

"And they were cowards." replied Hermione with a fierce look behind her amber eyes. "They attacked us from behind while we were leaving the bookstore."

Snape pulled away from her, his sadness giving way to anger but it wasn't directed at the men whom had attacked them. He had been no stranger to self loathing but this was definitely where his anger began to boil over.

"I fucking knew there would be an incident." he hissed getting out of bed and walking toward the other end of the bed room. "I knew there would be some lingering hatred from the masses about what happened to...about me kill Albus Dumbledore..."

"You didn't kill him Severus!" Hermione interrupted. "Professor Dumbledore asked you to assist him for both Draco and Harry's sake."

"I cast the curse didn't I?" asked Snape bitterly. "It was the spell leaving my wand that did him in was it not?"

"He was already dying." said the amber eyed witch softening her gaze.

"Spin it how you wish Gryffindor, but the fact remains the same." replied Snape. "Our son is dead because my enemies wanted to kill me...and they hit you by mistake."

"Severus..." began Hermione climbing off the bed as well and making her way over toward him. "I don't blame you...I've never blamed you...I blame them they are the cowards that took him from us."

"You still believe me capable of being decent." he said seemingly annoyed. "This fucking romanticized view you have of me...it's just your Gryffindor nature clouding your judgement...coupled with your preference for my cock and you'd believe me innocent until the end of time."

"Don't." said the amber eyed witch narrowing her gaze at him.

"It's high time you were honest with yourself witch." he said bitterly. "Everything I touch turns to shit...no matter what I do...I'll always be like him."

Snape drove his fist through the nearby wall ignoring the pain and the breaking of skin in the process.

"Sev..." said Hermione not knowing how to help him.

"Why the fuck are you forcing me to do this?" he asked turning away from her. "You're just fucking like her...you make all these excuses and tell yourself that things will get better...like your blind to the fact that I'm not fucking good for you."

"Don't say that...you are vastly complicated and deeply hurt by unwanted things from your past but you had no control over very much of anything in your life." said Hermione.

"There you go, making an excuse." he said annoyed. "What's it going to take?...do you really enjoy my cock that much?"

"Stop it." demanded Hermione knowing full well what her ex-husband was trying to do. "It's not going to work Severus."

The former Potions Professor's final attempt at a defense in the wake of his unwanted vulnerability had been broken and he dropped to his knees before the stubborn witch whom had insisted on loving him despite all of his flaws and great failures.

Hermione walked over to him wrapping her arms around him as his weary head rested against her belly.

"You are nothing like your father." she assured him as she ran her fingers through his lank raven hair. "And you are not a monster despite what anyone who doesn't know you has to say...you are a brilliant and formidable man whom risked his life to save not only myself but the entire wizarding world...and if it had not been for you neither Draco Malfoy nor Harry Potter would have survived that war."

"I couldn't save my own son." said Snape. "What the hell kind of a father can't even keep his own child safe?"

"You did everything you could." said Hermione holding him tight. "And so did the doctors at St. Mungos."

"Given what I've done...I don't deserve your love nor your loyalty." he said honestly.

"I'm sure you can find some way to make it up to me." replied Hermione knowing what he had been eluding to.

Snape sighed and looked up at the witch whom had been determined to love him no matter his reasons for why she shouldn't.

"To be honest witch, the past three months have been like living in my own personal hell." he admitted. "Knowing I don't deserve you did little to stop me from wanting you."

Hermione wiped the tears from his cheek and smiled down at him.

"Now was that so hard to admit the first time you woke up?" she asked seemingly pleased with herself.

Snape stood up lifting the witch off the floor and carried her back toward the bed.

The two of them found themselves falling back into their old routine as he moved between her thighs.

"I love you." she said kissing his pale lips and running her fingers along his exposed scars like so many nights before.

Snape met her gaze and everything was silent for a moment.

"I love you too." he replied returning her kiss as they became entangled between the sheets during the cool and quiet morning.

The Potions Master had still not been sure that he deserved Hermione's love but he decided he'd do his best to earn it if that was what she wanted from him.


	21. Chapter 20:A Demanded Request

**_Chapter 20: A Demanded Request_**

 ** _{A/N: Here's Another update...}_**

 ** _My Thanks To All My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S._**

 _The Kitchen, The Potter Residence, Wizarding World..._

 **H** arry Potter had been silent as he poured himself a cup of coffee in the kitchen while Ginny did her best to keep from smiling at the noted reconciliation between their best friend and their former Potions Master. The green eyed wizard had been briefed on the budding rekindled romance between Hermione and Snape and he had been a bit skeptical about the timing. The news of Hermione wishing to return to Spinner's End with Snape, whom had still been a very tricky alcoholic with a death wish and several enemies at large, had been most disconcerting for him. He had no doubt that Hermione had been determined to amend her relationship with Snape and that she'd be delighted to return to the home that she had become accustomed to for the past few years but it was all still so sudden for him.

"Harry." said Ginny glaring at her seemingly absent-minded husband from her seat at the kitchen table.

"Y-Yes?" he asked. "I-sorry Gin...I'm afraid my mind was elsewhere."

"I asked you if you were really going to let Snape return to Spinner's End?" asked Ginerva Potter with her dark eyes narrowed at Harry.

"I admit, I've been giving it some thought." replied the green eyed wizard.

"But?" asked Ginny with an arched brow.

"But I just don't think Snape's ready to have access to the world again." replied Harry with concern in his tone. "The way I found him in that alley...and those brutes that were trying to end him..."

"Are none of your concern Potter." hissed Snape making his presence known as both he and Hermione entered the kitchen.

"Well good morning to you too Snape." said the green eyed wizard taking a sip from his coffee mug.

Snape rolled his eyes as Hermione moved toward Ginny and greeted her.

"You are looking...well, Mrs. Potter." said Snape acknowledging the expecting witch among them.

"Thank you Professor." she said.

Hermione noticed her ex-husband cringe at the mention of his former title.

"He doesn't like to be reminded of his time at Hogwarts." she said.

Ginny noted this as Snape did his best to keep from appearing rude in the wake of her show of respect.

"Sorry." she said apologetically.

"I-it's fine." he replied not at all use to being among company.

Hermione had insisted upon him joining the Potters for breakfast, it had been the prudent thing to do considering it was their final morning with them.

Harry Potter had been watching the former Potions Master since he arrived and he had yet to be convinced about the older wizard making any improvements concerning his health and mindset.

"Good morning Harry." said Hermione setting to work getting breakfast for herself and Snape.

"Morning Mione." he replied delighted as always to see her.

It seemed Snape's presence was doing her a world of good considering how things ended for her when they were divorced. He had hoped the two of them would actually make a bit of progress if only to be able to get passed the sorrows of the past.

"It seems you two have made up." he said observing their new found closeness.

"She strong-armed me is more the like." muttered Snape almost sounding bitter.

Hermione rolled her eyes. While she had been a bit forceful in her approach, it had not changed the fact that their reconciliation was the best thing for the both of them no matter how he phrased it.

"Severus and I are attempting to further our re-connection." she said. "And to do so, I'd like us to return home to Spinner's End."

Harry nearly spit out his coffee.

He had hoped she wouldn't bring this up first thing in the morning but it seemed unavoidable.

"I don't believe he's ready to have access to the free world again Mione." said the green eyed wizard.

"And I am telling you that it isn't rightly your call." replied Hermione.

Snape watched the two Gryffindors descend into a bickering war in a matter of seconds. It never ceased to amaze him just how passionate Hermione had been when arguing about something she believed in. As annoyed as it made him, it was strange to see that Potter had felt the same when it came to welfare.

"He's just going to crawl back into the bottle once he gets home and you know it." said Harry determined to prove his case.

"And that is why I'll be right there with him." said Hermione with a fierce gaze that didn't waver in the least.

"Mione." said Harry. "I believe you are rushing this entire thing."

"It's not your call Harry." she replied.

As the two Gryffindors continued to argue their respective points, both Snape and Ginny enjoyed their breakfast.

"Look, while I appreciate everything you have done for us Harry, I believe it's high time Severus and I returned home." continued Hermione. "He's not going to get any better sulking around here day after day and then there's the baby."

"Snape's got a whole list of enemies." said Harry. "The blokes that attacked him in the alley aren't just going to disappear."

"I care nothing for cowards that attack people from the shadows." replied Hermione defiantly. "I just want to take my husband home."

"Ex-Husband." replied Harry correcting her.

"Given our situation Harry it's effectively the same thing." she said defending her previous statement.

Harry rolled his eyes.

"What makes you think you both can sweep the past several months under the rug and begin again?" he asked. "Even if you do decided to stay together that doesn't mean the Ministry Of Magic would allow it."

"Sod the Ministry of Magic." countered Hermione. "Severus needs me and I will be there for him, we are going to return home and continue on with our lives without interference from anyone, including you Harry."

"Mione." began the green eyed wizard unsure how to get through to his best friend.

"I've made up my mind Harry James Potter and there is no talking me out of this." she assured him. "All I want from you is for you to release my husband from your restrictions so that we may be on our way."

Harry sighed noting it had indeed been a lost cause trying to get her to see reason.

"Fine." he muttered bitterly. "But if he just so happens to find himself in trouble once again, I will have no choice but to return him to Azkaban."

"Like hell you will." replied Hermione.

Harry rolled his eyes then waved his wand releasing Snape from his restrictions. Hermione sat down to breakfast seeming quite pleased with herself as Snape and Ginny noted Harry's disappointment and annoyance before he headed off to work.

The former Potions Master had not known what Potter had hoped to accomplish by keeping him in this place but he had been delighted that Hermione had advocated to get him away from this place. The rest of the morning passed with silence and the consuming of the reminder of their breakfast.


	22. Chapter 21:Home Sweet Home

**_Chapter 21: Home Sweet Home_**

 ** _{A/N: Here's Another update...}_**

 ** _My Thanks To All My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S._**

 _The Snape Residence, Spinner's End, Cokeworth, England, Muggle World..._

 **F** rom the moment Severus and Hermione stepped into the house they lived in during the duration of their marriage, it smelled of condensed air, enormous amounts of firewhiskey and dust was everywhere. The amber eyed witch looked at the wizard she'd come to restore and shook her head. Bits of broken glass from the shattered bottles as well as drops of blood told her all she needed to know about her how well her ex-husband truly felt regarding their unwanted divorce. She didn't need resort to mind-reading to understand how alone he felt and it drove him back to his self-destructive tendencies. Without saying a word, she set to work putting the vastly abandoned house right again making sure it was as if she never left.

Snape made his way toward his usual armchair as the restoration took hold of the old place. The scent of jasmine from his former wife's brown hair filled the sitting room and the dust seemed to evaporate in the wake of her cleansing charm. He closed his eyes as if trying to capture this moment in his vast memory and got to his feet.

Hermione seemed more at home here with him than she had back at the Potter residence. She turned her attention to her less than savory ex-husband and smiled. She was right back where she wished to be and so was he despite all of his brooding before hand.

"I've missed this place." she admitted. "It has character...like the wizard whom had come of age here."

"You would try to find the good in a place seeping with terrible memories." muttered Snape.

"Don't be so grouchy." she said with a smile as warm as the glow of the sun. "I suppose I'd better get you something to eat...Merlin knows you won't bother to feed yourself."

The moment she turned and attempted to get to the kitchen, the agility of Severus Snape prevented her from rushing off so easily as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her slender body close to him.

"Hermione." he said as if this whole experience remained too good to be true in his battle weary mind.

She couldn't help but close her eyes as she took in the lingering scent of herbs and fresh earth on him.

"I'm here Severus." she said trying to process that this moment had been true for her as well.

The former Potions Professor's hold on her seemed to be desperate as he clung to her.

Tears began to stream down Hermione's supple cheeks as she recalled her own vivid memory of what happened that terrible night they lost their only child.

 _Their son._

 _The innocent little baby boy taken from them in the wake of that cowardly attack by embittered former students that simply judged Severus because he wouldn't let them get away with being the pampered spoiled brats they were at home in his classroom._

"I'm so sorry." she said sadly knowing what this loss had done to him. "I'm so sorry that you had to lose someone else you loved because of cowardice from others."

She had not told her former husband, but she had seen her attacker, a former Gryffindor student whom had attended school with her. It had nothing to do with his past as a death eater and even less to do with what happened with Dumbledore given that everything that occurred with that was understood.

The amber eyed witch turned to face her husband stroking his sallow pale cheek as he dropped down to his knees. His cheek was pressed against her belly as she looked down at him.

Rapid images of her being wheeled away on a gurney and taken back to the delivery room came flooding back. He had taken her as far from that place as his mind thought to go but they ended up in a field near an abandoned barn.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

 _Open field, Unknown World..._

 _A frantic Severus Snape carried his wife toward the abandoned barn. The air smelled of rain and heavy gray clouds seemed to swirl above them. The last thing the witch needed was to catch her death via a cold. The former Potions Professor hurried to get her shelter and the abandoned barn was all he could come up with. Hermione struggled with the loss of blood and the labor pain as the roof of the barn was suddenly hit by the splatter of a fast onset of rain._

 _"S-Severus?" she said in a weak tone._

 _"Quiet witch." replied Snape attempting to assess the situation. "Save your strength."_

 _"T-The baby...our son?" she said suddenly growing frantic in her own right despite the loss of blood._

 _"I'll see to him." replied the former Potions Professor._

 _Hermione nodded entrusting her husband to do what he could given the situation._

 _Snape took off his frock coat draping it over the shivering pregnant witch in a bid to keep her warm in spite of the drastic turn of weather._

 _"This should keep you warm for now." he said._

 _The cold witch's shivering lessened as Snape turned his attention to examining her wounds. He managed to heal enough of them to keep her from dying from blood loss but that had been the least of his concerns at the present time. There had been no movement from the baby since there initial family outing and it caused him a good deal of concern._

 _As if it meant to address this problem head on, Hermione started having contractions once more and Snape did the only thing he could think of at the time. He positioned himself between her thighs like he had so many times before but instead of bedding the witch, he made the attempt to play midwife and deliver the child himself._

 _The incident at St. Mungo's left him with little to no choice and he doubted the child would wait until they flew back to find a muggle hospital to attend. The witch did everything she was taught to do once she was to give birth and helped him fumble his way through most of the instructions before passing out from the pain. She pushed the child out confirming that she had indeed been carrying a baby boy within her womb._

 _Snape took off his long sleeve white shirt instantly wrapping it around his newborn son in a bid to keep him wrong. Holding the bloodied child swaddled in his equally blood soaked shirt, the Potions Master took it upon himself to ensure the boy could breathe removing the remainder of the placenta from his nose and mouth._

 _Try as he might to make it so, the boy had been yet to utter his first cry._

 _"Come on." said Snape feeling a bit of fear creep from within as he looked down at his only son trying desperately to get him to breath, following Hermione's hasty instructions to the letter. "Breathe damn you!"_

 _Still there was no sound from the baby boy he and Hermione's love had created._

 _To the sorrow filled Snape, his small face had been angelic and it was clear that he would have taken after Hermione in terms of looks. A small gift for the child if ever there was one, he couldn't count how many times he had been given grief about his abnormally large nose._

 _Unwilling to give up, he tried everything he could think of to get the boy to breathe, but it was all to no avail. No air entered his tiny lungs and his heart did not beat._

 _Finding himself shattered in the wake of the loss of his son, Snape did what he could to heal Hermione and make her comfortable. He cradled his dead son in his arms until the witch awoke the next morning asking to hold the baby the grief stricken wizard could never put down._

 _Telling her their son didn't make it had been the hardest thing he ever had to do, even more so than killing Albus Dumbledore for the sake of old man's "greater good."_

 _She crumbled in an instant blaming herself for it all._

 _He remained emotionally distant still sitting along the barn floor with not an ounce of sleep since the previous morning._

 _"He's gone because of me." said Snape in an emotionless tone. "If you hadn't been saddled with me as a husband you'd have had lots of children by now...healthy children who would not be shunned by anyone."_

 _"Stop." said Hermione knowing where this was going. "This wasn't your fault Severus...this was the act of some gutless coward...you did everything you could."_

 _"But it didn't save him did it!?" shouted Snape feeling his anger rise._

 _He stood shirtless and weary from exhaustion and sorrow all rolled into one but he refused to allow himself rest. As far as he had been concerned he failed his own son just as Tobias Snape had failed him._

 _HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH_

 _The Sitting Room, Spinner's End, Cokeworth England, Muggle World..._

Hermione sighed as she watched her ex-husband sit staring into the fireplace as he had done many times before. She managed to finish cleaning the enormous mess he left of the home she had come to know and made something for the two of them to eat in record time. He was mostly silent as always awaiting whatever she had in mind. He refused to read or look out the window, it seemed he had little to no interest in very much of anything since the loss of their son and the subsequent breakdown of their marriage.

"Severus." she said softly.

"There is something to be said about open flame." he said still not taking his eyes off the dancing embers.

A lot had changed for him since having his wand taken and being listed as unable to brew potions, he had little means of gaining employment elsewhere and teaching wasn't an option.

"It's time." she replied walking over toward the armchair and taking him by the hand.

"Okay." he said as he followed her into the kitchen.

He didn't seem to make much fuss about anything these days and this was most unsettling.


	23. Chapter 22:For What It's Worth

**_Chapter 22: For What It's Worth_**

 ** _{A/N: Here's Another update...}_**

 ** _My Thanks To All My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S._**

 ** _Warning Sexual Content Ahead..._**

 _The Bathroom, Spinner's End, Cokeworth, England, Muggle World..._

 **A** sweltering heat wave brought on by the rapid increase in humidity left the seemingly forgotten textile town of Cokeworth England dealing with stifling muggy air and frequent bouts of sweat. Hermione did her best to keep both herself and Severus cool but it didn't seem to ever be enough. The exhausted witch stretched out in the bed she shared with her ex-husband only to find that he had been missing. Getting out of bed, she made her way toward the narrow upstairs hall and found the shower had been running. Hermione sighed noting the at he must have been awakened due to the heat and decided to shower to get some relief. She moved toward the door and opened it hearing the shower run and catching a glimpse of her naked lover beneath the stream of water.

"You know it's considered rude to stare." he said without turning to face her as he remained beneath the shower head enjoying the stream that beat against his sore heat battered pale flesh.

"I'm not staring git." replied Hermione with a smirk filed across her face. "I'm merely watching."

Snape pulled back the shower curtain getting a good deal of water on the floor and exposing his water slick body to her heated amber gaze. He did a bit of smirking of his own and motioned for her to join him.

Hermione rolled her eyes and quickly spelled away her constricting attire careful to step around the enormous water puddle Severus had made when he move the shower curtain from blocking the spray from hitting the floor. He seemed to delight, however briefly in the slender shape of her exposed body taking time to cup her small but entertaining breasts. She fit in nicely as it were with little to no effort as he seemed intent on infringing upon her person lowering his body as he placed a series of kisses along her exposed shoulders before turning his attention to his now raging erection and brushing it up against her thighs.

"Severus." said the young witch in a nearly breathless manner. "Is this why you wished for me to join you so badly?"

"No." he replied pulling her close to him as she reflectively pushed her hands out to lean against the tile as her lover spread her legs wide enough to fit comfortable between them. "But it's quite the enticing experience."

Hermione gasped a bit as she felt his hands roam all over her water slick body as she shower continued to run among the two of them. The sound of the water bouncing off the tile and echoing in the mostly silent bathroom surrounded them in addition to their collective rapid breaths in the wake of the newly developed sexual situation.

She could feel him, poised to return to the enticing warmth he had come to know so well and it was more than enough to drive her mad with lust of her own accord.

"Severus..." she said gripping the wall and bending her knees in an effort to brace for what she knew to be inevitable.

A fierce grunt resounded in the bathroom as Severus Snape sunk his blood engorged appendage into his ex-wife's waiting warmth.

She gasped as she clung to the wall taking the rough aspect of his thrusts.

Snape kept his feet planted in the shower ensuring neither of them would fall in the wake of his thrusting but he could feel Hermione's legs were buckling under the pressure.

"Shut off the water." he instructed her with one last thrust to tide him over as he pulled back long enough to have her turn and face him.

Hermione had done just that as Snape lifted her in his arms, she had forgotten just how strong he had been despite his appearance.

She wrapped her legs around his waist and he thrust back into the warmth he'd been missing since the fall of their marriage. Breathing rapidly, Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck as he carried her from the tub to the narrow hall not missing an opportunity to thrust into her along the way. Knocking over a few of the photos and hall table fixtures in the process.

Truth be told, he didn't know what it was about her that got him so fired up in terms of sex. Looking back he could easily say he never wanted for companionship but he never engaged as frequently as he had with her. She made him reckless and spontaneous all at the same time. His harsh words to her about not wanting their child had been an attempt to keep her at bay for the good of her safety.

The former Potions Master knew from the first night of their union that he harbored a secret desire to ensure she never left his bed no matter what was said about the marriage law.

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 _The Bedroom, Spinner's End, Cokeworth England, Muggle World..._

Snape burst into his childhood bedroom allowing it to slam against the nearby wall. Hermione didn't seem all that startled by it as he continued to provide her with an ample amount of thrusts to keep her stimulated in their mutual pursuit of release. He made it to the bed throwing her down and picking up where he left off in the shower so easily. Her rapid moans filled the household as he dug his fingers into their shared bed. Sweat cascaded down the former Potions Professor's back as he stared into the amber eyes of his ex-wife while giving her a good deal of pleasure to contend with.

"S-SEVERUS!" she shouted gripping the mattress below her unsure what she should do with her hands in the wake of his antics.

Obsidian eyes flickered with full on desire as he noted the familiar bounce of his ex-wife's breasts as each thrust brought her closer and closer to her desired release.

Oh...Severus...please..." she begged unsure what she had been pleading for.

"What is it that you wish to ask of me witch?" he asked grunting as he continued to jolt the witch along the mattress.

"I...can't...I..." began Hermione attempting coherent speech while being overwhelmed by her body's lust. "Severus...I want another baby...please...please give us another baby..."

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she said these words and it caused her lover to stop his antics all at once.

"Hermione." he said not wishing to discuss such a serious topic while in the middle of their act but with her it seemed unavoidable.

"Please Severus." she begged him stroking his sweat slick back and wrapping her legs around his waist.

"Hermione...we haven't discussed..." he began but his words dissolved into a groan at the feeling of her inner muscles getting the better of his appendage.

"Fine." he said renewing his thrusts with vigor. "If it's a baby you want...then we'll just have to ensure you get pregnant...but make no mistake...you will be my wife before the child is born."

The amber eyed witch nodded in agreement as she found herself being jolted across the mattress once again.

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 _Hours Later..._

Severus Snape rested his head on his half-slumbering wife's belly. He had every intention of ensuring that she'd become his wife again but he had not even wanted to consider the possibility of trying for a child again. The stubborn witch begged him for another child some time after their son was killed and he openly refused not wishing to endure the same agony as before. He couldn't seem to make her understand that taking the impotency potion in the past wasn't something he did to hurt her, he was merely trying to protect her from enduring more hardship because of him.

The exhausted witch ran her fingers through his sweat slick raven hair and seemed to look off absently in the distance.

"I love you Severus." she said. "I didn't mean to push this on you...but you've known how much I wanted another baby for a while now."

Snape sighed caressing her thigh with his hand as absently as she had his hair.

"I suppose it's no use in fighting the inevitable." he replied knowing he had bedded the witch enough times to have gotten her pregnant again wither he wanted to have the child or not.

Hermione sighed still running her fingers through his hair.

"I've been thinking a lot about a change of scenery." she said still staring in the distance. "Perhaps it will be a new beginning for us?"

Snape stopped caressing her thigh and moved up her body, trailing a series of passion induced kisses along her exposed sweat slick flesh.

"I go where you go it seems witch." he replied capturing her lips in another passionate kiss.

She returned his kiss pleased that he had been on board with her most recent ideals.

The former Potions Professor continued to kiss his ex-wife enjoying her warmth despite the heat wave. He knew he could never again live the solitary life and if children had been what she wanted for their future then so be it.

He'd give her that if only to make her happy again.


	24. Chapter 23:Force Of Habit

**_Chapter 23: Force Of Habit_**

 ** _{A/N: Here's Another update...}_**

 ** _My Thanks To All My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S._**

 _The Sitting Room, Spinner's End, Cokeworth, England, Muggle World..._

 **H** ermione had still been in bed sleeping as Severus Snape made his way down the narrow upstairs hall and down the stairs to the sitting room. The trembling in his hands began the moment he awoke. He knew the onset of his rather shameful secret and did his best to hide all traces of it when at the Potter Residence. The increased volume of sex with Hermione seemed to stave off the need until certain times of the when she had been fast asleep and the cravings returned. The former Potions Master sighed looking down at his trembling hands. There was no way he could return to making any sort of potion illegal or otherwise in this condition. The frequent waves of nausea made it nearly impossible to want to eat anything but he attempted to in order to keep the witch from becoming suspicious.

At the present time, there was nothing he could do to get passed his shameful secret.

So he decided to best way to feel like himself again was to indulge.

Snape ventured toward what had once been his mother's potions lab well hidden within the mundane muggle abode. He made his way down the stone steps and over toward a cabinet well stocked with Ogren's finest Firewhiskey. He twisted the top from the rather thick glass rectangular bottle and immediately drank down the contents. The tremors that plugged him ever since he had been trapped at Potter's place seemed to lessen and the urge to vomit faded once his urge had been satisfied.

The former Potions Professor slunk down to the cold hard floor of his mother's former potions lab with his eyes fixated on nothing as he turned his attention back to the bottle he gripped tightly in his large pale hands. He knew his mother would hate him if she were alive to see what he'd be reduced to. The killing of Albus Dumbledore still weighed heavily upon him and so had the death of his infant son.

He believed the boy's murder via a disgruntled Gryffindor brat was suppose to be his punishment for the act of ending the life of the former Headmaster as he leaned against an empty dust covered shelf. All his life he had been plagued by those that wished him harm and ill will. He knew not why they seemed to delight in hating him but he attempted to move forward none the less despite various bouts of heartbreak.

Hermione had been the only person he'd ever known to see good in him.

In the beginning of their marriage, he believed her to be foolish and openly mocked her romanticized view of him.

She cared little for what he or anyone else thought about her affections for him and continued to love him despite himself.

The young witch was quite formidable and altogether kind as she slowly began to spread her infections brand of hope to him and his view of himself began to shift due to it.

He had truly wanted that child.

The chance to be the man his weak muggle father could not be but it all had gone terribly wrong when the boy didn't take his first breath.

Taking another drink, Snape got to his feet and stumbled out of the potions lab and into the infirmary.

He loved Hermione and wanted nothing more than to make her happy but that didn't make his grief over the loss of his child any less affecting. Potter had been right about at least on assumption when it came to him. He was merely awaiting his chance to get back to this place to access the firewhiskey.

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 _The Sitting Room, Spinner's End, Cokeworth England, Muggle World..._

The amber eyes of a sleeping Hermione Granger opened the moment she felt the shift in the bed's weight. She had known already whom had caused it and unbeknownst to him, why. She got out of bed and slipped on her rather thin house robe. She could see him struggling as he made his way down the stairs and the trembling of his hands, those hands that seemed to move with grace of their own back when he had merely been her Potions Professor, were the first sign of his underlying issue.

The saddened witch knew all too well that her former husband and current fiance had come from a man whom had turned into a brutal alcoholic and how ashamed he was that he too had such a weakness. He lacked his father need to inflict pain on others to make himself feel special and focused most of his rage inward until he took it out on himself.

Hermione followed him down to the sitting room where she waited in the darkness until he came stumbling out of the potions lab his mother once created clutching a bottle of Ogren's finest. She said nothing as he looked at her the shame on his face as he dropped to his knees.

"I'm sorry." he said apologizing for his self-perceived weakness.

Hermione sighed made her way over to him and once more ran her fingers through his hair as his cheek rested against her belly.

"It's not your fault." she said softly now understanding she had more than enough work to do if she was going to help him recover.

"I'm no better than he was..." began Snape alluding to his late father.

"You have always been a better man than your father Severus." said Hermione making sure to meet his eyes when she said this.

"I may not have struck you physically but I've done my share of emotional damage." he said recalling all too well how he had treated her prior to the reconciliation and during the destruction of their marriage.

"And I have no doubt that you will make it up to me." she said stroking his sallow pale cheeks. "I suppose the first place to start would be attending grief counseling, like the muggles do."

Snape tensed at the word "counseling" but he knew this was want she wished for him to partake in and there was no refusing her...not after all he'd done.

"As you wish." he replied resting his cheek back against her belly.

"Wither you believe me or not old man...you are worth saving." said Hermione running her fingers absently though his raven hair once more.


	25. Chapter 24: First Step, First Day

**_Chapter 24: First Step, First Day_**

 ** _{A/N: Here's Another update...late post}_**

 ** _My Thanks To All My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S._**

 _The Sitting Room, Spinner's End, Cokeworth, England, Muggle World..._

 **M** ore silence filled the Snape residence, as Hermione sat on the green threadbare sofa with her lover resting his head in her lap as his lengthy body continued to dangle from the cushions due to his height. If he had been uncomfortable he made no mention of it as he continued to rest his weary head upon the amber eyed witch's thighs. His hands would still tremble, as they had at breakfast. Causing the poor wizard more shame in the wake of her discovering his weakness in response to his son's loss and all the other terrible things he'd done in his life. Hermione's soft delicate hands ran through his raven hair as she simply sat finding it necessary to reassure him that she didn't think little of him due to his newly discovered vulnerability.

"It'll be alright Severus." she said softly resting her hand on his back.

He made no sound and continued to lie in the darkness of the room feeling her soft touch and losing himself in it. Her voice was always the only means of comfort he had even when they had gone their separate ways. The image of her kind eyes and the memory of her soft touch saw him through many a dark day over the course of the three months of their divorce. Every whore he'd taken to bed, he'd done so in a bid to chase the memory of the wife he so longed to have back once more.

Sitting in the silent darkness together again, Snape felt a bit of the coldness that threatened to overtake him ebbing away in the wake of the young witch's warmth. He still craved the drink more often than not but she was there with him and made it a point to get him to understand that he was no longer alone in this world, and that she was right there beside him as she always hoped to be.

"I never wanted to be anything like him." said Snape staring out into the semi-lit sitting room ignoring the peaceful setting around him as his weary mind took him back to when the house was occupied by his warring parents and he had been subjected to the tyranny of the drunken brute known as Tobias Snape.

"You are not him." said Hermione still stroking his back with her hand. "You aren't a coward and you've never drew your hand nor your wand to harm me."

"Yet, I ended up becoming a drunkard just like him." said Snape bitterly.

"Severus." said Hermione meaningfully.

"There is nothing you could say that makes this all seem better than what it is." replied Snape still embittered. "I'm a drunk Hermione, and I've only just now admitted to it even to myself."

"At least it's a step in the right direction." said the amber eyed witch. "The first step in seeking help for an an addiction is admitting that you have one."

Snape sighed.

"All the wizards you could have lined at your feet, why in Merlin's name did you choose an old drunk for a husband?" he asked.

"To be fair, your drinking was brought on by stress due to your curious profession as a spy." said Hermione knowing full well when she first noted his frequent habit of taking to the bottle whenever things got to be too difficult to handle. "What happened to our son wasn't your fault and I am very sorry that you ended up seeking comfort in a bottle of firewhiskey instead of coming to speak with me about your feelings."

"Force of habit I suppose." he replied. "I wasn't truly used to having someone to speak with about my unwanted feelings on any subject."

"Well in any case, I don't think any less of you." said Hermione firmly. "You did everything you could to keep us safe."

"It just wasn't enough." replied Snape raising up off the sofa.

"I don't blame you for what happened Severus and you shouldn't blame yourself either." said Hermione getting up as well. "Haven't you suffered enough for the mistakes of your past, why must you always continue to punish yourself for things that are out of your control?"

The raven haired wizard sighed noting how upset she'd been. He didn't like seeing her on the verge of tears even when he was attempting to keep her at a distance.

"I..." he began not truly knowing how to answer her question.

Self-loathing had been a major part of his life since before he could remember. Not being wanted by either of his parents, or accepted in school muggle and wizarding alike made him truly believe that it was his own fault no one cared for him, as if he'd been wrong or broken somehow.

"I don't know." he finished meeting her gaze.

Hermione made her way over toward him wrapping her arms around him in a tight embrace.

"I love you." she said as tears began to stream down her supple cheeks. "I love Severus and we'll get through this...all of this together."

"You don't need me." he said unsure if he could put her through all of the previous pain all over again. "You would have been better off just staying at Potter's."

"No." protested Hermione glaring at him firmly. "I am better off here with you and working through this."

"You're a bloody stubborn little chit." said Snape annoyed.

"Yes I am." replied Hermione meeting his obsidian gaze full on. "And I am also in love with a stubborn self-loathing wizard with a poor self image due to years of neglect and orchestrated abuse."

"And you want to have a child with me." he said noting her poor choice in him.

"You're damn right I do." replied Hermione with a fierce flicker behind her amber eyes. "Those people never gave you a chance to be anything before they set out to destroy you Severus, and you've proven them wrong time and time again for not loving you when they had the chance, I am not so foolish as to mistake a diamond for a piece of coal."

"Speaking in metaphors are you now witch?" he asked.

"Whatever it takes to get the message through that thick skull of yours." replied Hermione. "I love you more than you could ever imagine Severus Snape and the fact that you have an illness only makes me want to stick it out and be here for you all the more."

Snape closed his eyes taking a weighted breath.

"So from this moment on it's you and me." she said. "The first step, the first day."

Snape opened his eyes noting how sincere her words had been.

"First step, first day." he said echoing her words in agreement.

The both of them knew all too well that this was going to be an uphill battle, but they were both seasoned combat veterans. One more fight for the good of their relationship wasn't going to break them, But it would certainly make them stronger in the long run. Hermione took the dour wizard by the hand and lead him back up the narrow stairs toward his childhood bedroom content once more to be back in each other's orbit no matter how far they drifted apart over the last three months.


	26. Chapter 25:The Ease Of Companionship

_**Chapter 25: The Ease Of Companionship**_

 _ **{A/N: Here's Another update...}**_

 _ **My Thanks To All My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S.**_

 _ **{"But baby I've been here before...I've seen this room and I've walked this floor...You know, I used to live alone before I knew ya...And I've seen your flag on the marble arch...And love is not a victory march...It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah...Hallelujah...Hallelujah... Hallelujah...Hallelujah..."}Hallelujah, Jeff Buckley**_

 _Snape's Bedroom, Spinner's End, Cokeworth, England, Muggle World..._

 **P** ale moonlight had been the first thing a newly awakened and quite naked Severus Snape noticed when he opened his eyes to find that the soft golden rays of the afternoon sun had faded into the white glow of moonlight. He felt the encompassing warmth of a sleeping Hermione as she lied with her head rested against his chest, effectively pinning him to the bed with her equally naked form and ticking his bare flesh with her unruly brown hair. He would have been lying to himself if he had said that he didn't miss her presence in his cold place that had once been their shared home as much as it had been for his own parents prior to the destruction of their marriage due to his birth.

The former Potions Professor found himself smirking at the ironic indication of the entire ordeal. Let he himself or his drunken Muggle father tell it, his name was quite appropriate for the occasion in terms of destroying marriages. Hermione of course appeared to have been the exception to this as she blatantly ignored any and all attempts by him to steer her away from him.

He noted the rising and falling of her chest as she continued her slumber relatively undisturbed as she lied on his chest comfortable it appeared for the first time in three long months of separation. Despite his apparent self-loathing, Snape had been gotten quite use to the abrasive young witch's relentless brand of love. It was a refreshing change from the insufferable silence that plagued him much of his life and the subsequent loneliness he suffered even as a boy within these very walls.

Closing his heavy pale eyes, Snape took in the scent of jasmine from her hair and the soft sound of snoring from her lovely mouth as he gave himself over to the possibility that he could at least find contentment with the witch once more if not all out happiness. She was quite convinced that the two of them could start anew and trying for another child would give them something new to hope for, he wasn't of the mind to fight her optimism.

The weary former Potions Professor continued to lie in the darkness basking in the silence and the warmth that surrounded him from the sleeping young woman whom he had known for much of her life. A few blissful moments after three months of unstated agony were like a breath of fresh air after a life time of rancid surroundings.

For a few moments more, Severus Snape basked in the still quiet of his morning with the witch he had originally been forced to marry in a bid to keep her safe from his death eater comrades until she began to stir of her own accord.

"Mmmmm." moaned the newly awakened witch.

Snape couldn't help but note her demeanor upon awakening as being pleasant despite her knowledge of his most shameful secret. He couldn't understand how she'd been so at ease when was left with no choice but to confess when she'd ventured into his secret room and discovered him rather dependent upon the drink.

"Severus...?" said Hermione opening her amber eyes to note the wizard she'd been lying on.

She treated him to a small smile stroking his sallow pale cheek before pressing her lips to his, evidently more than pleased to have awakened with him in the morning.

"I dreamed of you last night." she said still with the same sweet smile.

Snape didn't know what she had to smile about, aside from their frequented and rather exhausting sessions of love-making that was, he'd been no better to her in his own mind than he was before the sun had come up.

"We have a long day ahead of us." she said still quite chipper. "And there are some changes to be made."

"Changes?" asked Snape his curiosity piqued for the first time in a long time.

"Indeed Mr. Snape...but first thing's first, I want my ring back." she said matter-of-factly.

"I...you wish to be married to me again?" he asked in utter disbelief. "Why in the hell would you want that?"

"As far as I am concerned we were never divorced and I want to keep it that way." she replied. "This will be a mere renewing of our wedding vows."

"Oh joy." muttered Snape.

"Don't be such a grouch." said Hermione with a sigh. "You know you are awfully cute when you pout...and you know very well that I have no desire to be a kept woman...I married a self loathing obnoxious git and that's who I am going to stay married to."

"Well at least that's a given." he muttered in reply.

Hermione kissed him once more before getting up off the bed.

"Come on Severus off to the shower with you while I get breakfast started, assuming you've gone shopping at least once within the week for me to whip something up." said Hermione with narrowed eyes. "If not then we are going out to eat."

"Out?" asked Snape with an arched brow.

"Yes out, as in fresh air and scenery beyond these depressing walls." replied Hermione. "Come to think of it, you could use a bit of fresh air."

"And if I wished to skip breakfast?" asked Snape with an arched brow.

"Not an option." replied the amber eyed witch quickly slipping into her bathrobe and slippers. "You need the energy, especially given what we are trying to accomplish."

"You are a rather bossy chit you know that?" grumbled Snape as he got up from the bed, not bothering to slip into a robe as his body remained exposed to the view of his former wife and the chill of the morning air.

"Perks of being a Snape I suppose." she countered with a smirk.

Snape caught the witch off guard pulling her into his kiss before making his way toward the bathroom.

"Consider yourself fortunate that I am greatly intrigued by the likes of you." he said before taking his leave of her.

Hermione watched the pale naked wizard take make his way to the shower a knowing smile filed across her face as she turned her attention toward her plans for breakfast. If he didn't go shopping they would most certainly be going out for a meal.


	27. Chapter 26:The Impressive Ramifications

_**Chapter 26: The Impressive Ramifications Of Courtship**_

 _ **{A/N: Here's Another update...}**_

 _ **My Thanks To All My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S.**_

 _The Bathroom, The Snape Residence, Spinner's End, Cokeworth, England, Muggle World..._

 **R** ushing hot water beat against the weary and sore muscles of the lean pale wizard, Severus Snape's body as he stood beneath the cascading stream of the shower head. His lengthy raven hair fell to his shoulders and stuck to his back due to the heavy stream of water. As much as he hated to admit it, Hermione had been right about their apparent chance to start anew despite all of the heartache and miscommunication of their previous relationship.

As the water continued to beat against his weary muscles loosening them to the point of him becoming relaxed as the crushing weight of tension seemed to lift from him entirely, Snape felt the all too familiar soft, and warm questing hand of his former wife as she entered the shower along with him.

"I take it you couldn't find anything to prepare this morning." he said without turning to face her.

"Nothing at all." confirmed Hermione as she pressed her naked body into his leaning her head against his scar covered back.

Despite being soaked, she went out of her way to plant slow deliberate kisses along his scars making sure he knew that she loved him no matter what Voldemort's cruelty attempted to do to him.

Unable to help himself, Snape turned to face the witch whom had chosen to show him seemingly limitless affection ever since the day she took his name and became his wife. It was difficult to fathom the time he spent trying to keep his distance from her during their marriage due to the war despite sharing a bed with her almost every night.

The torment of being so far away from her and the loss of her delicate touch is what put him in the mindset to venture to brothels. He loved Hermione more than even he realized and the trips usually resulted in him bedding one of the working girls with looks similar enough to satisfy his fantasy of his former wife before he found himself wakening to the crushing reality that she was no where to be found.

Snape closed his eyes taking in the familiar scent of the water slick witch beside him and pulled her into his embrace. She let out a soft moan that was music to his ears despite the background of white noise from the rushing shower.

With swift movements, he pinned the witch against the cold wet tile and fitted his body to hers. At once her surprisingly still warm hands grazed his scarred pale chest and Snape leaned down to capture her lips in a series of heated kisses.

He knew this witch's body better than anyone could have ever claimed to know every detail of their lover and her wish to become a first time mother fueled a side of her that always seemed to draw him in.

A quick gasp and Hermione felt the all too familiar sensation of being impaled by her former husband's massive water slick cock. An unsavory grunt from Snape resounded in her ears before he began his powerful series of thrusts as he held her up against the tiled back wall of the shower.

His calloused pale hands gripped her backside and he continued to have his way with her, jolting her along the shower in a bid to give her the pleasure he knew her to be searching for. The images of her belly swelling with his child once more seemed to spur him on despite his previous reservations about siring another child.

He began to want it more than anything if it meant pleasing the beautiful young witch whom had taken it upon herself to choose him for a life mate.

"I love you..." whimpered Hermione clinging to his slick shoulders as if for dear life.

Snape grunted in reply still thrusting into her as the images continued to drive his actions.

At the very least, she deserved to be a mother. She would be better at it than most and seemed born for the role. It never escaped his notice that as a young lass, it was Hermione's maternal instincts that kept a trouble-making Harry Potter out of the grave and on his best behavior for the most part of his Hogwarts career. Her contributions to shaping up the youngest Weasley boy also made a good impression on Snape.

The frenzy that overtook Snape as he thrust into his witch forced his release a lot earlier than he wished and he cling to the witch as he filled her womb with his seed once more hoping to give her the child she so desperately wanted.

After clinging to each other beneath the rushing shower, Snape and Hermione forced themselves to fight their mutual exhaustion to shower appropriately and get dressed to go out for their meal. Snape was in agreement that he was long over due for some fresh air and that it would do him good to see what's become of the world when not vastly intoxicated.

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 _Open Street, Cokeworth England, Muggle World..._

The fresh air seemed to do Severus Snape a world of good as he walked along side a blissful Hermione Granger. He moved with his hands shoved rather unceremoniously into his trouser pockets as they passed numerous rows of shops and neighboring flats along the route she picked for them.

"It's a truly beautiful day." said Hermione making conversation.

Snape sighed nodding in agreement. He wasn't much for small talk but she had informed him of her plans for them to start anew in another place if only to assist in his recovery process.

"Have you given any more thought to where we will be going?" he asked with an arched brow.

His steps were quick due to his legs being longer than the witch trying her best to keep up with him.

"As I've told you before, I'm partial to the beach areas." she said. "Perhaps the fresh air and quiet would do you some good."

"So it's a cottage you want then?" he asked finding it strange to be discussing living arrangements like an average muggle as they moved down the side walk.

"A cottage sounds lovely." replied Hermione with wonder illuminating behind her amber eyes. "But we have to choose a place suitable for raising children."

Snape wondered when she would be getting to that.

"I wouldn't know where to begin." he admitted. "This endeavor is more or less your brainchild I suppose whatever you decided will be alright with me."

Hermione stopped walking and narrowed her eyes at him.

"So if I said I want a cottage on the moon with pretty pink horses and juice for a moat around it?" she asked knowing full well it would annoy him.

"I'd say a second divorce is right around the corner." replied Snape showing his annoyance. "I do not have any intention of living in some girlish fantasy and if my child is a son that is the last thing he'll need to be around."

Hermione couldn't help but giggle at his reaction.

"Well at least you've bothered to have some input." she said taking him by the arm as they passed what looked to be a shop dedicated to expecting mothers and child rearing. "Look Severus...can you imagine what our little one would be like in any of this?"

"Must I...everything before you is quite repulsive to say the least." he replied grumpily.

"Always a grouch." replied Hermione with a sigh as she pulled him away from the baby shop. "Let's get you something to eat before you hex someone."

"For once we are of one accord." replied Snape as they continued their journey toward the cafe and bakery further down the street.

As they walked Hermione stole another glimpse at the baby shop in the distance. She thought back to their efforts to conceive again wanting so badly for it to still be possible despite the injuries she suffered due to the cowardly attack she survived.

Sensing her small measure of doubt, Snape stopped in his tracks and pulled the witch into his embrace as a single tear trailed down her cheek.

"It will happen witch." he said softly before kissing her on top of the head. "We'll have another child soon enough."

Hermione nodded giving herself over to his warm embrace for a few moments before they continued their journey in search of breakfast.


	28. Chapter 27:The Comforts Of Ease

**_Chapter 27: The Comforts Of Ease_**

 ** _{A/N: Here's Another update...it's been a while for this one...I think the song below pretty much sums up Sev...}_**

 ** _My Thanks To All My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S._**

 ** _{"Baby, do you understand me now...Sometimes I feel a little mad...Well don't you know that no-one alive...Can always be an angel...When things go wrong I seem to be bad...I'm just a soul who's intentions are good...Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood...I'm just a soul who's intentions are good...Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood..."} Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, The Animals, Nina Simone, Santa Esmeralda_**

 _Old Bakery, Cokeworth, England, Muggle World..._

 **T** he cool breeze that passed by Snape and Hermione only made her lean against him as they walked toward the old bakery. There was a welcome silence that passed between them as steadily as the breeze. Hermione had been content to simply be in his company. The past three months at Harry's place seemed like an eternity when they had been apart and now here they were back together and attempting to make a go of parenthood despite the tragic set back of losing their firstborn son.

"Do you really believe we can be parents this go round?" asked Hermione as Snape opened the door to the bakery for her.

"Yes." he replied meeting her inquisitive gaze. "It happened before, there is not reason to believe that it won't happen again."

They each stepped inside basking in the warmth and the overall homely glow of the place. The scent of sweets and freshly baked breads had been welcoming as Hermione approached the counter with Snape right behind her.

"Hello." said the rather portly old clerk smiling at the two of them. "What can I get you two this fine morning?"

Hermione took a moment to go over the treats before her.

"I'd like several chocolate donuts ones and my husband likes the bear-claws despite his insistence that he prefers powdered donuts." she replied with ease all but forgetting their recent divorce. "Oh and the ones with the pink icing and sprinkles are good too."

Snape said nothing as he stood as silent as a statue looking over everything as the old clerk set to work getting what Hermione ordered.

As the portly old clerk filled a container full of the requested treats, he looked over at Snape with an arched brow.

"Say young man...don't I know you?" he asked.

Snape turned to face him standing with his hands in his pockets and a less than kind expression on his face. He had not been a "young man" since his time at Hogwarts and that was due to being around witches and wizards well beyond his years.

"I don't recall meeting you before." said Snape in an emotionless tone.

"I'm pretty sure I know you...only you were a scrawny little thing and often hanging outside the shop and looking through the window.

Snape said nothing as he seemed to recall something of that like. Only he had not simply been hanging around the shop but using his magic to steal a good few of the old man's donuts due to not having very much food at home.

"You're Tobias Snape's boy." said the portly old clerk. "I often wondered what became of you...haven't seen you much around here in years."

"I was sent away at particular school for troubled youths." replied Snape with a rather interesting take on Hogwarts for the muggle man. "Following my graduation I became a Professor."

"And apparently had time to marry." said the portly old man with a smile. "I'm glad some good came of your life...I often wondered why you never entered the shop all those years ago...some of your little friends did and we chatted about you some summers back, but they had no idea what became of you...some even believed you died."

"Almost." replied Snape with a smirk. "Alas, death wasn't in the cards as of yet."

"Severus." said Hermione not at all liking his casual approach to the horrific night he was attacked by Nagini.

The raven haired wizard made his way toward the counter and wrapped his arms around the concerned witch and turned his attention back to the donuts.

"I'd say you might very well be pregnant if you can't decided when you've had enough donuts." he said.

Hermione smiled.

"You think so do you?" she asked. "I admit that normally I'm not much for sweets."

"I believe we have our first indication." said Snape kissing her softly on the top of the head.

The portly old clerk smiled.

"You two kids trying for a family?" he asked sounding quite impressed.

"More like retrying." replied Hermione. "We've had a child before."

Snape continued to hold the witch in his arms and kissed her once more on top of the her bushy head.

"He didn't make it." admitted Hermione.

"Well I'm sorry to hear that." replied the portly old clerk with a sympathetic tone. "But you know...something like that can break a relationship...I should know...my boy's been gone close to thirty years now and I never bothered to stick around and help the Mrs. work it out..suppose it was my own stubborn pride that got in the way...she's been gone for close to sixteen years now all that remains of us is this shop.."

Hermione met the sorrowful dark eyes of the clerk with a bit of sympathy of her own.

"I'm sorry to hear that." she said.

"As am I." replied Snape meeting the man's gaze for the first time.

"I've spent a good deal of time in the bottle and even more trying to beat myself up...neither did me any good..." continued the portly old clerk with a knowing smile. "The strangest thing occurred when I took of this old place...it was abandoned and filled with cobwebs and I turned it into a place where baked goods make people smile...can't tell you how many children come by here even attempting to pass the window...I suppose I'm better for all the trouble I caused in my youth."

"I suppose I know a thing or two about that." admitted Snape looking down at Hermione.

"Well believe me when I tell you staying together when something terrible like what happened to you two happens...it makes you stronger together without all the nonsense of self destruction if you know what I mean." said the portly old clerk. "Who know...your little boy or girl might just come clamoring for one of those donuts you're so fond of."

He rang them up and Snape put a bit extra into the man's hands. Hermione looked at him with an arched brow as if to question his gesture but he didn't seem of the mind to explain himself.

"You take care of yourself Amos." he said meeting the old man's eyes.

"You too Severus." replied the portly old clerk with a smile. "Enjoy the donuts."

"We will." said Hermione pleased. "Thank you Amos."

Both Snape and Hermione exited the bakery and headed down the path enjoying the cool morning air and pondering their future.


	29. Chapter 28:The Confirmation Of Instinct

**_Chapter 28: The Confirmation Of Instinctual Suspicion_**

 ** _{A/N: Here's Another update...}_**

 ** _My Thanks To All My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S._**

 ** _{"Lately...Have I told you I love you...Lately...Have I told you you still mean the world to me...Lately...Have I told you I love you...I'll be your wishing well...Tell me what you want babe...Don't think twice of our love...I say these things because...I love you but it's hard to explain...And I'm hoping that you're feeling the same...You know that all of my...Feelings are inside...And verbally I tend to forget...How much I L-O-V-E U really means..."}Lately, Tyrese Gibson_**

 _Open Street, London England, Muggle World..._

 **T** he cool breeze had been welcome as both Snape and Hermione continued their walk following their trip to the bakery. It had been nice to speak with Amos and even nicer to leave with a score of donuts that seemed to be all that the rather ecstatic young witch had been craving as of late. Snape's obsidian gaze had not left her since they began their little morning journey. She had been correct in forcing him to comply with a change of scenery as he thought less and less of his unsavory habit and more about of the possibility of her carrying his child.

It had been true that their initial divorce had been a mistake and his rejection of her had been an even worse one. It had not occurred to the Potions Master in the least that his young wife would have been willing to try again nor had it occurred to him that she had not blamed him for the death of their first child.

Hermione sighed happily as she clutched his hand.

"What say you to us making a day of exploring and spending time together?" she asked sweetly.

"Why not?" replied Snape as he allowed her to lead him to a nearby little park.

She'd been quite pleasant since she awoke this morning and there was something of a glow about her but Snape dismissed it as her merely being pleased to have gotten her way.

The two of them entered the park noting the peace and quiet as they found a worthy bench to share where they could enjoy not only the donuts she clasped so tightly in her hand but the wonderful view.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

 _The Park, London England, Muggle World..._

Hermione let out another contented sigh as she rested her bushy head against her former husband turned recent continued lover's chest. Her amber eyes had been glued to a small family having a picnic not far from their view. He noted her attention being on a six month old baby girl enjoying the outing with her mother and father.

"It will happen witch." said Snape pulling her closer to him and kissing her on the top of the head. "And when it does...I'll even let you drag me out on little outings like that all you'd like."

Hermione turned to face him, her amber eyes meeting his obsidian orbs with an intense longing behind them.

"Do I have a wizarding oath on that?" she asked with an arched brow.

"Yes." replied Snape stroking her cheek before kissing her soft pink lips. "Anything you want."

Hermione returned his kiss with a good deal of passion before she suddenly felt ill.

"Severus..." she began with her eyes wide and questioning.

"Is it like last time?" he asked daring to be hopeful.

Hermione didn't take her eyes off him.

"Do...do you think we can pick up a pregnancy test?" she asked hopeful.

"Alright." he said. "The moment we get back home we'll have our answer...even if it's not the one we want...we can still keep trying."

"Severus." said Hermione kissing the wizard once more. "We don't need to keep trying...I have a feeling this is...really going to happen."

Snape returned her kiss and before long they got to their feet and headed back toward Spinner's End.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

 _The Sitting Room, Spinner's End, Cokeworth England..._

Hermione burst through the door with Snape at her heels. He smiled at how excited she had gotten at the prospect of nine months of nausea and the onset of diapers. Snape watched her rush into the loo with the muggle test and attempt to get answer to her burning question. They spent a good amount of time trying for another child ever since he revealed to her that he wanted to give her what she desired most.

She came from the loo with a look of utter worry filed across her face as she attempted to await the time for the test to get an accurate read. To Hermione this waiting game had been just as bad as when she found out about her first pregnancy.

"Come sit with me witch." said Snape motioning for her to join him on the sofa.

Hermione did just that despite her mind being back on the test.

"If we were to have a daughter this time around what would you name her?" asked Snape sliding his hand across her arm in a bid to distract her.

"I couldn't rightly pick a name this soon." replied Hermione. "My mind is much too crowded by my thoughts as it is."

"And if I said I wished for my Daughter to have the name Eileen?" asked Snape with an arched brow.

Hermione met his gaze for a moment recalling that Eileen had been the name of his dearly departed mother.

"Okay." she said stroking his sallow pale cheek. "If we have a daughter I could see her sharing your mother's name...but what if it's another son?"

"I'll let you take the lead on that one." replied Snape leaning his head into her shoulder and kissing the exposed flesh. "You are pregnant you know."

Hermione arched a brow at him.

"How would you know?" she asked.

"Instinctual Suspicion." replied Snape resting his head back against the sofa. "The moment I filled you I knew it would happen...it just took some time for you to catch on."

"Yeah right git." said Hermione seeing this as a jest on the part of her lover.

Snape met her eyes.

"When have you known me to jest about something so serious?" he asked with an arched brow. "My daughter will be born nine months from now and during that time her mother will be occupied with ways to repay me for having doubted me."

Hermione noted the time and immediately leapt off the sofa and raced into the loo.

"SEVERUS!" she shouted as tears of joy streamed down her supple cheeks. "Y-You were right...I'm pregnant."

Snape smirked after getting up from the sofa and capturing the overjoyed witch's lips in a series of kisses. He placed his hand on her belly knowing all too well the life growing within would eventually be born as his daughter.

He dropped to his knees and kissed Hermione Granger's soon to be growing belly.

"See you soon, Eileen." he said softly.


	30. Chapter 29:Back In One's Element

**_Chapter 29: Back In One's Element_**

 ** _{A/N: Here's Another update...}_**

 ** _My Thanks To All My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S._**

 _The Sitting Room, The Snape Residence, Spinner's End, Cokeworth, England, Muggle World..._

 **H** ermione Granger had awoke in utter confusion when she reached for her former husband and found that his side of their shared bed had been empty. A node of sheer panic had gone through her as she feared the news of a new baby might have been too much for the wizard and he'd been obsessing wither or not he'd be a worthy father. The former Potions Potions Professor seemed to be ecstatic when the pregnancy had been revealed but that didn't mean he wasn't having trouble adjusting to the news. Throwing off the covers, Hermione attempted to climb out of bed only to be stalled by the bedroom door opening and Severus Snape entering with a ready tray of hot breakfast foods and a look of concern on his face.

"SEVERUS!" she said pleased to see him and with what appeared to be breakfast.

"You should be resting." he said in his usual Potions Professor tone.

Hermione smiled as he placed the breakfast tray where she could access it and turned his attention to opening the drapes and ensuring that she'd be able to note the sunlight despite the dilapidated brick houses that were in view of the bedroom window.

"This is no place to raise a child." he said as she began to eat grateful that he'd served her in bed.

"I suppose we have more of a reason to start looking for better lodging." said Hermione noting the hotcakes, eggs, and various assortment of meats on her plate. He'd even served her oatmeal with honey and raisins. She had been given a glass of orange juice, and another of milk with skillfully cut fruit slices. "This all looks so lovely...you didn't have to go through all this trouble just for me."

"It wasn't all for you." replied Snape leaning against the nearby wall with his arms folded across his chest. "You are eating for two and I've made it a point to see to my child getting proper nourishment...as of this moment you are restricted from excessive sugary foods."

"But I like donuts." whined Hermione.

Snape narrowed his eyes at her as he often did when she spoke out of turn while he was teaching potions class.

"Alright." she said turning her attention back to her meal as she began to enjoy it. "What are you going to eat?"

"I had oatmeal earlier." he replied.

"You weren't in bed." said Hermione with a warm smile.

"I had pressing business to see to and didn't want to wake you." replied Snape.

"What kind of business?" asked the witch while she tore into a hotcake via her knife.

"Nothing for you to concern yourself with now and nothing illegal if you must know." replied Snape moving from the window toward the door.

"Sev..." said Hermione catching herself as she noticed what she'd called him.

Snape tensed a bit but eventually let it go as he made his way toward her on the bed.

"You need your rest." he said softly taking her free hand in his and kissing it. "Let me take care of the heavy lifting for the time being...you take care our baby."

Hermione understood that he'd been cautious about her doing much due to what occurred during her last pregnancy.

"Well...we have to get remarried." she said. "This baby is going to have a proper upbringing."

"Indeed." agreed Snape with a smirk. "Which is why I've been up for quite some time making a few arrangements."

"What kind of arrangements?" asked Hermione with an arched brow.

"Well Mrs. Snape, for starters we are not legally divorced." he replied.

Hermione's eyes widened.

"What doe you mean?" she asked.

"I...wished for you to be safe from those that might see their way to harming you to get to me.." explained Snape. "When the official had attempted to handle the paperwork, I...ensured he couldn't process it."

"What did you do?" asked Hermione now curious.

"I couldn't accept the image of you possibly being with another so I incinerated the documents." admitted Snape. "It was after the events with the brothel...I was drunk and quite pissed off actually."

"So we've been married this entire time?" asked the amber eyed witch. "You were moving through brothels knowing we were still married...Severus you bloody git!"

"I didn't touch any other woman after that...I got the call from the official and he told me he'd been unable to reach you...I didn't even remember having done it until..." explained Snape.

"Until we got you sober." said Hermione understanding. "Well at least that's one thing out of the way."

"Indeed it is." replied Snape kissing her hand. "I wanted to make sure before informing you."

"So that's why you weren't in bed." reasoned Hermione with a sigh. "I suppose it's good news after all, we are still married and we have a little on on the way."

"There is more..." replied Snape meeting the concerned eyes of his wife. "I've recently been down in my mother's potions lab."

"Severus are you brewing again?" asked the amber eyed witch in shock.

"Yes." he replied. "With your troubles in terms of finding gainful employment and our child on the way we must have a means of supporting ourselves."

"Severus you could be hauled off to Azkaban for this." said Hermione horrified at the thought.

"It's just for now, for the needed funds to move from this place before the baby is born." reasoned Snape. "I'll not have my child come of age in this broken place, she deserves better...you deserve better."

"Not at the cost of losing you all over again." said Hermione.

"Just for now." Snape assured his wife. "When we are able to move...I'll abide by whatever you see fit for me to do."

The amber eyed witch sighed.

"There are no laws against me brewing potions." she said. "I could...support us at least for a the time being."

"No." replied Snape. "I won't have you at risk over boiling cauldrons...I'd rather go back to Azkaban than see you harmed or endure the loss of another child."

"Then...if anyone should ask I brewed the potions then." replied Hermione. "But once we move this illegal brewing ends."

"As you wish." replied Snape kissing her hand once more.

Hermione sighed looking him over and noticing that he had cleaned up rather well and seemed to be doing a good deal better than before. It seemed having his focus directed at something productive instead of self destruction did wonders for him.

"You look...well." she said with a smile. "And rather handsome despite your innate idiocy."

"And you look ravishing despite your cheek." replied Snape with something of a boyish grin.

The expecting couple shared a kiss perhaps their means of agreeing to disagree for the sake of their future together. Despite her worries of the consequences if he'd been discovered to still be brewing potions illegally, Hermione had to admit that it was good to see her husband back in his natural element as it seemed to be doing wonders for him.


	31. Chapter 30:When Love Is Undeterred

**_Chapter 30: When Love Is_ _Undeterred_**

 ** _{A/N: Here's Another update...I was attempting to write sooner but due to complications and another death in the family it was postponed, alas here yet another chapter...}_**

 ** _My Thanks To All My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S._**

 _The Sitting Room, The Snape Residence, Spinner's End, Cokeworth, England, Muggle World..._

 **H** ermione Granger-Snape made her way down the stairs, no longer content to remain in bed no matter what her over protective husband had to say about it. He had apparently decided to clean up, with the sitting room more tidy than she had seen it in quite a while and there didn't seem to be a single trace of dust in any part of the house. A small smile filed across her face as she continued to seek out Severus knowing full well he'd offer some protest about her not being off her feet with the pregnancy looming, but she decided she could use the excitement given how little time he's spent with her due to his numerous orders for potions needing to be filled.

Just as she reached the open door to her mother in law's makeshift potions lab, her preoccupied husband had come up from the darkened cellar looking every bit as stressed and focused as he had been when he was her Potions Professor brewing any sort of remedy or various elixirs for any and all ailments.

"What are you doing out of bed?" he asked with an arched brow.

"Last I checked Severus, I am pregnant not in the throes of an illness." replied Hermione folding her arms across her chest as if daring him to challenge her.

Snape simply shook his head as if her stance was to have been expected given whom she had been.

"Should have none you'd find a reason to defy direct orders." he said recalling just how much of a trouble-maker she had been in her not so distant childhood.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at her husband still unable to fathom how he managed to keep their continued marriage a secret even from her over the past three months.

"Git." she said in reply.

Snape seemed amused as he unexpectedly spelled away his coat and scooped his young wife into his arms catching her off guard. A series of giggles erupted from Hermione Granger-Snape as he carried her toward his family sitting room much to pleased with the way things have turned out due in no small part to their mutual stubbornness.

Hermione felt at home wrapped in the Potions Master's arms recalling how safe he use to make her feel even as a girl when she'd been in the confines of his embrace. A small smile filed across her youthful face as she recalled the first time she felt his body pressed against hers, it was during her third year when the then DADA Professor Remus Lupin had been on a rampage following his transformation into a werewolf.

She noted the scent of herbs and fresh earth that lingered from his person as he held her tightly in a bid to stop her from chasing after Harry Potter, whom had raced after his ailing godfather Sirius Black, and getting herself possibly killed in the process.

Now he had carried her through the his family sitting room and toward the nearby sofa allowing her to rest her head against his chest and enjoy the lingering scent of herbs and fresh earth that seemed to radiate from his person once more.

"I love the way you smell." she said softly as he sat them both down on the threadbare sofa.

Snape seemed amused by her words knowing where her fondness of his working scent had originated.

"You are a rather strange young woman, Hermione." replied Snape enjoying the feel of her warm frame being pressed into his own as she sat straddling his waist on the sofa.

In response she treated him to a series of affection driven kisses as he gripped her slender waist via his rough calloused hands. He seemed every bit as into their intimate embrace as she had been with no coercion needed on her part and it made her smile.

"Are you happy Severus?" she asked pulling back from the latest exchange of kisses between them much to his disappointment.

"What sort of question is that to ask of me?" he replied unsure what his relative stating of happiness hand to do with the moment at hand.

"It's a good question and one I want an honest answer for." replied Hermione narrowing her eyes at him.

"Always with the incessant questions." muttered Snape trying his best to ignore his current state of arousal in a bid to satisfy his wife's obnoxious form of curiosity.

"Yes..." replied Hermione meeting his eyes. "Or no."

"For Merlin's sake witch, yes...I am quite happy...you are once more in my arms and we are expecting another child...I am working again if only to put a new roof over our heads and I have a means of purpose...does that suffice?" he replied.

Hermione couldn't help but smile again before continuing where they had left off via another series of passion filled kisses.

"I love you." she said as if she had not said those words enough.

"And I love you, witch." replied Snape treating her to another of his rare boyish smiles. "More than you could ever imagine."

Hermione settled into his lap, resting her head against his shirt clad chest and taking in his familiar scent once more.

"Soon witch...we will have everything we would have ever wanted." he said kissing her shoulder as she continued to lean against him. "And our child shall want for nothing."

"Our child." said Hermione liking the sound of that. "Severus, we're really having another baby."

Snape had been quite contented with the turn of events that lead to his stubborn better half once more getting her way. While the new baby in no way erased the old hurts from the wasted months they had spent apart and did little to put a dent in the pain from losing their son, it was worth keeping everything moving forward for the sake of their newest unborn child.

"Indeed we are." he replied holding the expecting witch in his arms unbeknownst to her, it was in that moment that he proceeded to make a silent vow never again to let her go as he so foolishly had three months prior.


	32. Chapter 31:A Little Heart To Heart

**_Chapter 31: A Little Heart To Heart_**

 ** _{A/N: Here's Another update...late post}_**

 ** _My Thanks To All My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S._**

 _The Sitting Room, The Snape Residence, Spinner's End, Cokeworth, England, Muggle World..._

 **T** he soft yet constant pelting of rain against the aged brick house in the former textile town of Cokeworth, England had done little in the way of disturbing the seemingly breathless amber eyed witch, Hermione Granger as she found herself staring up at the ceiling of her equally spent husband's childhood bedroom where she had imagined he endured the passing of a great many nights staring up at the very same ceiling wondering how his life would turn out. She didn't doubt that marriage and children of any kind had been the farthest things from his mind then and yet here she was his wife and once more carrying his child that they had conceived in the very same bed.

"What are you pondering now witch?" asked Snape in a gruff tone due to exhaustion.

Hermione smiled loving even the most abrasive aspects of her husband's personality. She turned her attention to the sweat blasted pale wizard whom had been trying his best to slick back his rather unkempt raven hair in a bid to get it out of his face.

"Mmmmm." purred Hermione scooting closer to him despite the increase in his body temperature. "I was just wondering what you must have been like as a little boy."

Snape rolled his eyes.

He should have known she'd start with a round of incessant questions.

"Oh no you don't witch." he said attempting to turn over on his side opposite her inquisitive glare only for her to pounce on him pressing her slender body against his own lean pale form.

The former Potions Master let out a groan feeling the heat from her smaller body as well as the pressure of her thigh against his enormous spent appendage. Wrapping his arms around her waist, Snape pulled her closer enjoying the feel of her despite his demeanor and exhaustion.

The semi darkened bedroom that had been the only place where a young Severus Snape ever found comfort despite the antics of his drunken father and now served as the very place where his life with Hermione began anew.

To say he had mixed feelings on the subject of fatherhood was an understatement. He was still very much afraid that his past would bring harm to yet another child he dared bring into the world but Hermione had been determined to give him an heir. He had no fortune to pass on and his looks, at least as far as anyone else in the wizarding world had been concerned left a lot to be desired, but she wanted this baby as well as the last one more than anything in the world and he had intended to give her anything her hopeful heart desired.

The news of the pregnancy had been a bitter sweet joy, as new possibilities and old hurts once more came to the surface.

"As happy as I am about the new baby." began Hermione meeting Snape's eyes. "I can't help but miss our son."

Snape sighed wondering when she'd circle back to their tragic history.

"Hermione...I...I miss him as much as you do." he said sounding even more exhausted than before. "There's not a moment that goes by that I don't wonder what would have become of us if he had lived."

Hermione put a hand on each of her husband's sallow pale cheeks meeting his gaze indefinitely.

"You did everything you could to bring our son safely into this world." she said meaningfully. "I do not hold you responsible for what happened, if anything...I couldn't have been more proud of you...despite everything we've been through you still had the presence of mind to attempt to save him."

"It wasn't enough." replied Snape still meeting her gaze.

"It was more than enough." insisted Hermione dropping her hands from his cheek and gripping one of his rough calloused pale hands as she rested it against her exposed sweat slick belly. "I love you, Severus Sebastian Snape...and so will this child...our second child."

Snape seemed content to adhere to her world view as she straddled his waist letting both of his hands rest against her belly. He couldn't help but note the subtle sway of her breasts with each breath she took, or the warmth from between her thighs as she sat there with her body towering over his. There was an intense expression filed across her youthful face as she found herself unable to get the images of their latest coupling out of her mind.

The former Potions Professor smirked knowing all too well what had been on her mind as he continued to look her over, his own lean pale chest rising and falling with each breath he took noting her body's movements along with it.

"Would you ever have imagined us being together all those years ago?" she asked stroking his chest as she met his gaze.

"No." replied Snape seemingly baffled by the events that lead them both to this strangely quiet yet peaceful moment. "At that time I saw nothing but war ahead, and the few moments of peace that I did manage to have during that time had been all due to you witch."

"Despite you being a git back then...I was much more comfortable being in your bed than wondering the corridors at Hogwarts." admitted Hermione. "To tell you the truth, I've always felt safe in your arms...even when we weren't married."

"You were always given to strange tastes Miss Granger." said Snape with a smirk.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him.

"That's Mrs. Snape to you." she replied not at all forgetting how he made her believe that they were divorced for the past three months before he arrived at Harry's place.

"Indeed it is." replied Snape treating his young wife to a rare boyish smile. "Allow me to apologize for all of my wrong doings where you are concerned Mrs. Snape."

"Only if you will permit me to do the same." replied Hermione.

The two seemed to be in agreement before sealing their new found trust with a series of heated yet heartfelt kisses.

"I love you." said Snape meeting her amber gaze once more.

"And I love you." she replied.

"I have no doubt that you'd make a wonderful mother." said Snape still letting his hands roam along his pregnant wife's belly.

"And you would be an impressive father." replied Hermione still with a smile. "Of course you know that once this little one is born, we should immediately start thinking about giving her a little brother or sister to play with."

"What am I your breeding bull?" asked Snape with an arched brow.

"I don't see what you'd have to complain about, I'll be the one doing all of the work bringing them into the world." said Hermione making it clear that she wanted more than one child this time around and dared him to say otherwise.

Realizing that he had no way of winning this argument, should he let it escalate into one that was, Snape simply pressed his lips against that of his expecting wife's and closed his eyes giving in to the quiet embrace of slumber after the night they shared. Of course, he had not needed to tell her that he had loved her more than anything in the world and would gladly give her as many chances to be a mother as she asked for.

For the time being Hermione narrowed her eyes at Snape thinking perhaps he had been faking being asleep just to get out of their conversation, but when she heard the light snoring coming from the exhausted wizard, she knew all too well that he had been truly asleep.

"Sleep well Severus." she said softly resting her head against his chest as her own bout of exhaustion caught up to her. She smiled noting that she needed all the rest she could get given the precious cargo tucked safely within her womb.

It wasn't long before she followed suite in drifting off as the rain continued to provide a calming back drop to their mutual rest.


	33. Chapter 32:The Domesticated Bliss Of Ho

**_Chapter 32: The Domesticated Bliss Of House Hunting_**

 ** _{A/N: Here's Another update...Happy Birthday To My Mother...}_**

 ** _My Thanks To All My Readers and Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S._**

 ** _{"_ _She's got a smile that would make the most senile...Annoying old man bite his tongue (I'm not done)...She's got eyes comparable to sunrise...And it doesn't stop there (Man I swear)...She's got porcelain skin, of course, she's a ten...And now she's even got her own song (but movin' on)...She's got the cutest laugh I ever heard...And we can be on the phone for three hours (not sayin' one word)...And I would still cherish every moment...And when I start to build my future, she's the main component...Call it dumb, call it luck, call it love or whatever you call it but...Everywhere I go, I keep her picture in my wallet like here...Take a look at my girlfriend...She's the only one I got (ba ba da da)...Not much of a girlfriend...I never seem to get a lot (ba ba da da, ba ba da da)..._. _"}Cupid's Chokehold,_ _Gym Class Heroes_**

 _North Side Cottage, Greenvile, England, Muggle World..._

 **S** everus Snape had been fiddling with the hideous brown tie Hermione insisted he wear along with the suit of the the same color in a bid to fit in with the muggles that surrounded them. Her attempt to soften his brutish appearance with muggle civility had been admirable despite not being in the least amusing as he stood with his normally unkempt raven locks pulled back into a surprisingly neat pony tail and a pair of black framed glasses over his eyes despite his quite keen eyesight. She had worn what she described to him as being a intellectual gray skirt with a matching woman's blazer and white stockings.

It would be a while before her pregnancy began to show in terms of her body's physical adaptation still, knowing that she was carrying their child had been more than enough motivation for the both of them to ensure this pregnancy turned out vastly different than the last.

The former Potions Professor had not liked being forced to conform to the muggle ideals that plagued his youth, but Hermione wanted take a tour of the house up for sale in this area. She had been quite excited about the prospect of getting to see the new place ever since she had awoken that morning chatting about it non-stop. As of this moment they stood on the front porch of the potential buy with her gripping his hand and their wedding rings newly purchased at her insistence despite their silver coloring before their arrival.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Snape." said the muggle whelp in a light gray suit with large brown framed glasses.

Hermione had insisted they use his true surname when house hunting liking the way it sounded. Snape had been amused by her fantasy of what their life would be like if they had chosen to move to the new location. When he asked her why she had chosen to use their true identities she simply replied that she had wanted their child to be proud of where they had come from. The Potions Master didn't say it aloud, but he found himself loving her even more due to her stubbornness when it came to getting what she wanted.

"Hello, I'm Reed Kallens." said the muggle whelp of a man standing before them clutching a clip board of sorts.

"Pleased to meet you Reed, I'm Jean and this is my husband Sebastian." said the smiling expecting witch shaking the muggle's hand.

The look on his face had been one of surprise, and Snape knew all too well that he 'd been calculating their respective ages. The former Potions Professor rolled his eyes hearing his idiotic thoughts about what he had assumed their relationship to have been before Hermione put an end to his assumptions.

"Well, Sebastian, Hermione if you would follow me please." he said getting back to the business of showing them their potential new home.

Snape followed mostly due to Hermione pulling his hand as they stepped inside the rather quaint little cottage. The number of bedrooms had been an issue as far as Snape had been concerned mostly to make it seem as if they were considering other options despite the fact that he had known the moment that they arrived that Hermione had already settled on calling the place home.

He found the beach that had been not too far from the cottage to be ideal in combination with the distance and lack of close proximity neighbors. Privacy was a major concern as well given their magical abilities as well as the potential abilities of their unborn child. There was no way he'd allow a child of his to be forced to hide their wizarding talents at great cost to themselves.

From what the tour had revealed, the cottage was a two bedroom and had stainless steel in the kitchen ideal for any couple searching for a certain rustic look for their new home but what had ultimately swayed the Snape's in favor of the new cottage had been the fireplace.

So what do you think?" asked the whelp of a muggle adjusting his glasses as he looked at the unlikely couple.

"We'll take it." said Hermione pleased by her surroundings.

The muggle whelp looked over at Snape fearful of his disagreement.

"You heard my wife." he said reaching into his pocket and pulling out the necessary currency needed to make the official purchase.

It had been a pain to convert wizarding galleons to British pounds, but he had calculated the exact amount needed in full to immediately claim ownership of the cottage.

Hermione had been quite pleased that she had let the wizard talk her into allowing him to brew illegal potions in a bid to afford the new residence, of course she put a stop to it once the money for the house had been secured, or rather so she thought.

"Congratulations." said Reed with a bright smile. "I hope you have many happy memories here."

Hermione returned his smile before turning her attention to her husband.

"This place pleases you I take it." said Snape making his way to the large window revealing the back of the cottage where he had a breath taking view of the ocean.

"It seems to please you as well." replied Hermione knowing him all too well.

Snape smirked realizing he'd actually have to attempt to hide things from her in the near future. Still, the easy comfort that had come with being in her presence made her annoying habit of reading his demeanor amusing at best and tolerable at worst.

"Our child will be happy here." said Snape doing a bit of hopeful reflecting.

"Indeed she will." replied Hermione taking his hand into hers as she looked out the very same window at the distant ocean. "And so will we."


End file.
